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Recent Articles from Peter Orszag
Peter Orszag: The vital medical research Obama isn’t pushing
The growth in Medicare costs continues to be slow, in what is perhaps the most encouraging fiscal development for the U.S. in decades. If the health care system is to continue to provide better value for Americans, policy makers need to seize this moment. Sadly, they are instead largely sitting on the sidelines.
Peter Orszag & Cass R. Sunstein: Give people choices, not edicts
Over the past few years, many nations have adopted policies that promise to improve people’s lives while preserving their freedom of choice. These approaches, informed by behavioral economics, are sometimes called nudges. Nudges include disclosure policies, as in the idea that borrowers should “know before they owe.”
Peter Orszag: Economy can’t be all that’s slowing health care costs
A new set of projections released last week by Medicare’s actuaries has drawn much attention, in part because it suggests the deceleration in the growth of health costs we’ve seen over the past few years is ephemeral. The actuaries attribute the slowdown to the “lingering effects of the economic downturn and sluggish recovery” and to increases in cost sharing.
Peter Orszag: With so many jobs, why so little hiring?
An odd puzzle is taking shape in the labor market: Over the past three years, the number of job openings has risen almost 50 percent, but actual hiring has gone up by less than 5 percent. Companies are advertising a lot more jobs, in other words, but not filling them.
Peter Orszag: Will Medicare fixes lead to hospital mergers?
Improving the U.S. health-care system requires encouraging low-value doctors and hospitals to practice as well as high-value ones do. The gap between the two is wide, but that only shows how much room we have for improvement.
Peter Orszag: Chained CPI’s diminishing returns for U.S. budget
News that the White House will propose a new cost-of-living index in the budget it releases this week has brought joy to deficit scolds and consternation to defenders of Social Security.
Peter Orszag: It’s the perfect time to fix our roads and bridges
Roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the United States are steadily growing older and weaker. Given low interest rates and elevated unemployment, this is an ideal moment to invest in fixing them.
Peter Orszag: Medicare cost slowdown could close U.S. budget gap
New evidence that the slowdown in health care costs over the past five years is happening not only because of a weak economy comes from the Economic Report of the President, released in mid-March by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Peter Orszag: More college grads equals faster economic growth
As the U.S. population ages, and with the effects of the financial crisis promising to linger for some time, economic growth will be lower than we would like. This is why the federal government needs to do more to help Americans earn college degrees.
Peter Orszag: Fiscal cliff may unbuild America
If you want a concrete example of the unanticipated harm that could come from the United States going over the fiscal cliff, look no further than Build America Bonds, an efficient and alternative way to subsidize state and local investments.
Peter Orszag: Pension funding scare won’t frighten all states
State and local governments, struggling to emerge from the aftermath of the financial crisis, face another looming funding gap: in their public pensions. These plans hold almost $3 trillion in assets and cover more than 10 percent of U.S. workers, so they’re an important force in the economy.
State lawmakers can’t find common ground either
The political wrangling in the U.S. recently over the extension of the payroll-tax holiday illustrates once again the new era of hyperpolarization. The gap between the two parties is wide, and few policymakers stand in the middle. The traditional model of centrist legislating is broken.
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