You guys are absolutely right about how our healthcare system favors entrenched companies in bed with corrupt politicians.
03-17-2020 11:30 PM
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Something I should say more oftenYou guys are absolutely right about how our healthcare system favors entrenched companies in bed with corrupt politicians. |
03-18-2020 06:07 AM
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Do I agree? Yes. | |
03-19-2020 08:41 AM
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Something I should say more often: | |
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03-19-2020 01:30 PM
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03-20-2020 11:09 AM
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Yet many of these same people accept the word of a different authority that is telling them to be a science denier, and/or a bible believer. | |
03-20-2020 10:19 PM
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Rules and regulations are a great thing. |
03-21-2020 07:34 AM
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Last edited by oskar; 03-21-2020 at 07:38 AM.
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03-21-2020 08:41 AM
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03-21-2020 08:45 AM
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03-21-2020 08:50 AM
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FTR (I only just realised that the acronym for "for the record" is the same as "flop turn river") I'm on the fence regarding climate change. I do not think we have enough evidence to be certain of the claims we make. I think it's highly probable that humans have an effect on the climate, but I think it's also probable that there's a huge amount of politics involved. I don't believe everything I read on the matter, and digest the figures with a huge amount of skepticism. | |
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03-21-2020 01:42 PM
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03-21-2020 01:47 PM
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03-21-2020 03:14 PM
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03-21-2020 03:20 PM
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The temperature measurements aren't that solid. Our ability to accurately measure the average global temperature has gotten progressively better over time. Truly reliable data is probably only 30-odd years old. It can be really easy to manipulate old data by cherry picking what you consider reliable. | |
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03-21-2020 03:28 PM
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03-21-2020 07:28 PM
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There are two things that could solve this: | |
03-22-2020 11:33 AM
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Can't really blame people shouting from the rooftops for not being heard, IMO. | |
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03-22-2020 11:49 AM
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03-22-2020 02:14 PM
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It's possible the best of all the bad options right now (economically) is that the government should send weekly checks to every person employed at a business that the government forced closed. |
03-22-2020 02:26 PM
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03-22-2020 02:32 PM
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Indeed. |
03-22-2020 02:38 PM
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The 2nd Amendment might stop the old way of governments committing genocide, but maybe it won't stop a new way. |
03-22-2020 02:49 PM
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This is basically our strategy. Govt has pledged to cover 80% of wages up to £2500 (approx $3000) to stop businesses laying off their staff. Assuming an average of £2000 each for 30 million people over three months, that's £180b. A financial package to support the self employed is yet to be announced. If we can keep the economic cost under a trillion, we're doing well. That's around half our GDP. | |
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03-22-2020 03:05 PM
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Universal Basic Income might have some viability even if it resulted in millions of additional unemployed. The Pareto principle is a real phenomenon in everything. As long as the economy is sufficiently privately owned, high achievers will probably still achieve highly even if doing so harder and even if low achievers achieve lower and low-middle achievers achieve less. UBI could also create positive social/economic disruption, resulting in new types of goods and services. It would make the most common kinds of labor and human capital skills less viable, but it could possibly create some new areas too. |
03-22-2020 03:05 PM
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03-22-2020 03:11 PM
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"Experts" are so frequently disastrously wrong that I instinctively research their opinions before assuming they're right. |
03-22-2020 07:11 PM
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03-22-2020 07:44 PM
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Everything suggested on the consumer level is drop in the ocean stuff - i.e. BS. | |
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03-22-2020 07:52 PM
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I'm in favor of UBI. | |
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03-22-2020 08:05 PM
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I agree that eventually generational wealth will become a thing of the past. It mostly has already. After 3 or 4 generations, nearly all generational wealth has disappeared. Anecdote: my family was possibly the wealthiest in all of Washington about 100 years ago, but my grandparents' generation wasted literally all of it. Such loss of generational wealth is extremely common once the generation that didn't earn it has it. |
03-22-2020 09:50 PM
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In a crazy turn of events, I might support wiping out student loan debt. Why? |
Last edited by wufwugy; 03-22-2020 at 10:45 PM. | |
03-23-2020 09:40 PM
#32
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Wait, why would demand drop? If there's a precedent of forgiveness, wouldn't it increase? | |
03-23-2020 09:46 PM
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Good points. It's really hard to know how things would shake out with something as drastic as UBI, similar to how it's hard to know exactly how the shockwaves from Covid shutdown will ripple through the economy. I think what we do know is that if we don't do something, if we just keep on with business as usual, shit ain't gonna be peachy. | |
03-23-2020 09:48 PM
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I should have said "the equilibrium quantity demanded" instead of "demand". They're two different things. |
03-24-2020 03:27 AM
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Wait what? Wiping out student debt would be done by telling the banks you ain't getting shit? Not by the government paying the debt? Are you sure? | |
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03-24-2020 07:38 AM
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The worst student loans to get away from are the gov't loans. If you declare bankruptcy at any time, non-gov't loans can be included in the resolution, but your gov't student loans cannot be. | |
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03-24-2020 09:07 AM
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Student loans are interest-free here. Obviously inflation is factored, but that's all. | |
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03-24-2020 09:33 AM
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I cannot imagine the banks being made to absorb the cost of forgiving student loans, especially since they fund the politicians who run the gov't so heavily. I would think the idea involves either only forgiving loans specifically from the government, or forgiving all loans and the gov't reimburses the banks. There's no way the gov't makes the banks take the hit imo. | |
03-24-2020 09:34 AM
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I have to agree with poop there. Fuck me these are strange times. | |
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03-24-2020 04:23 PM
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Good point. |
03-24-2020 04:28 PM
#41
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Last edited by wufwugy; 03-24-2020 at 04:41 PM. | |
03-24-2020 04:51 PM
#42
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What would happen if the government stopped issuing or backing up student loans? | |
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03-24-2020 05:07 PM
#43
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There would be fewer loans and subsequently fewer people opting to go to college. |
03-24-2020 05:16 PM
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Indeed. We could be looking at negative month to month real growth numbers that dwarf the worst in 2009 by one order of magnitude. |
03-24-2020 05:22 PM
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03-24-2020 05:44 PM
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There would be fewer people seeking higher education (because the cost to do so would be higher). Prospective students would be those who believe that the value they expect to get from the form of education outweighs not doing it. |
03-24-2020 05:48 PM
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IDK but every university I know of is currently holding all courses online, so we'll see what the students think of that arrangement as the next school years start. I expect we'll see a lot of people realize that they were digging their heels in at something that is a very good economic compromise. I mean, I think you can teach a lot of courses perfectly effectively with online interactions (especially live study groups - like office hours). It's only subjects that really require a hands-on approach that necessitate a classroom. | |
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03-24-2020 05:55 PM
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03-24-2020 06:24 PM
#49
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I should add to this. |
03-25-2020 10:03 PM
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Here's something that makes Bernie better than every Governor of every state that has shut down businesses. |
03-26-2020 02:45 PM
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We don't treat the government of China like it is evil because the country doesn't conduct physical war invasions. |
03-26-2020 02:48 PM
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03-27-2020 10:59 PM
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The atypical level of danger from COVID-19 appears to be heavily based on poor lifestyle decisions. |
03-28-2020 08:48 AM
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What's poor about Tom Hanks' lifestyle decisions? | |
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03-28-2020 08:56 AM
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Haha. I think he's suggesting that if you die from it, it's cause you did something to put yourself in a high risk group. | |
03-28-2020 08:56 AM
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03-28-2020 01:30 PM
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Corona has high comorbidity with some conditions heavily influenced by what people do. |
03-28-2020 01:44 PM
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Yes, sure, if you smoke three packs a day for fifty years your chance of survival is much less than if you don't for fifty years. But, simply being healthy doesn't ensure you survive it. Plenty of documented cases of people living healthy lifestyles being cut down. Young people too. | |
03-28-2020 01:48 PM
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03-28-2020 01:59 PM
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Whoa, wait, come on... Yes, very healthy people can die from this, just as healthy young people, who don't do uppers, do have heart attacks. It's just extremely rare. | |
03-28-2020 02:28 PM
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I said 'people with a healthy lifestyle aren't as susceptible to CV as people who arent healthy, but it's not the sole determinant of outcome' What is controversial about that? | |
03-28-2020 02:32 PM
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I think you strawmanned wuf. | |
03-28-2020 02:43 PM
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03-28-2020 02:55 PM
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03-28-2020 03:21 PM
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Nobody deserves to die from this horrible virus. |
03-28-2020 04:09 PM
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What counts as "good" lifestyle is hard to pin down. | |
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03-28-2020 05:10 PM
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03-28-2020 05:53 PM
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03-28-2020 06:16 PM
#69
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Yeah we absolutely do, just meant that while I sympathize with the idea of personal freedom there, the healthcare bill falling on society isn't optimal. | |
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03-28-2020 06:16 PM
#70
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Another strategy is to make it legal to not have to pay for others' poor health decisions. |
03-28-2020 06:19 PM
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03-28-2020 06:22 PM
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03-29-2020 12:28 PM
#73
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Not that into Melania. |
03-29-2020 12:39 PM
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You mean the immigrant wife? | |
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03-29-2020 12:45 PM
#75
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Economists are deeply unreliable. It's no wonder the field garners no respect from the public. It doesn't deserve respect. |