John C. Goodman on Health Care

John Goodman (Imprimis, 3/09) delivers a common sense speech about America's financial obligations:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2009&month=03

He starts off with a bang:

The first of the Baby Boomers started signing up for early retirement under Social Security last year. Two years from now they will start signing up for Medicare. All told, 78 million people are going to stop working, stop paying taxes, stop paying into retirement programs, and start drawing benefits. The problem is, neither Social Security nor Medicare is ready for them. The federal government has made explicit and implicit promises to millions of people, but has put no money aside in order to keep those promises. Some of you may wonder where Bernie Madoff got the idea for his Ponzi scheme. Clearly he was studying federal entitlement policy.

It gets better--well, actually it gets worse:

The Trustees of Social Security estimate a current unfunded liability in excess of $100 trillion in 2009 dollars. This means that the federal government has promised more than $100 trillion over and above any taxes or premiums it expects to receive. In other words, for Social Security to be financially sound, the federal government should have $100 trillion—a sum of money six-and-a-half times the size of our entire economy—in the bank and earning interest right now. But it doesn’t. And while many believe that Social Security represents our greatest entitlement problem, Medicare is six times larger in terms of unfunded obligations.

How much do we owe? Mr. Goodman answers that, too:

[I]f the federal government suddenly closed down Social Security and Medicare, how much would be owed in terms of benefits already earned? The answer is $52 trillion, an amount several times the size of the U.S. economy.

52 trillion dollars. Look at that number again. Fifty two trillion dollars, with a "t."

What makes Mr. Goodman different from most writers is that he actually offers solutions. That's the second part. You can click on the link below for his full speech:

http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2009&month=03

One of the Best Films Ever Made

I've just seen a wonderful Swedish film, Pelle the Conqueror. In 1988, it won an Academy Award for best foreign language film. The following year, it won a Golden Globe.

Pelle tells the story of two Swedish immigrants, an old father and his young son, who immigrate to Denmark around 1900. Like many immigrants, they dream of a better life, but are met with obstacle after obstacle. The world will not allow the father even the smallest of victories--whether it's a second job offer, a home to sleep in with coffee on Sundays, or the power to protect his son from bullies. Yet, somehow, the film manages to avoid being overly sentimental. If you're looking for a classic tale of a father and his son, you should not miss this film.

Esther Ting

I didn't know Esther Ting. I don't usually read the obits, but this one caught my eye, and by the time I was done reading it, I was tearing up. Here is the obit:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mercurynews/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=126321830

A friend's posts on Esther:

http://salcha.tumblr.com/post/96331972/in-loving-memory-of-esther-ting

http://salcha.tumblr.com/post/97737651/esther-ting

According to the above link (posted by Esther's friend on April 17, 2009), Esther died from a drug-related heart attack:

Now many of you are all wondering, how did Esther pass? What happened? Where, when, who..and so on...Wednesday April 8th, Esther overdosed on drugs which led to a heart attack. From what I heard from the nurse, she told me that they were able to resuscitate her, but her heart failed again and that’s when she passed.

Why would the world take a woman a few weeks before her 19th birthday? This makes no sense. It just makes no sense. May God help her family and those who were fortunate enough to know her.

NYT Immigration: "Remade in America"

The entire NYT series on immigration--called "Remade in America"--is fascinating. The link is below:

http://projects.nytimes.com/immigration/

Here's a so-so link linking countries and occupations:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/07/us/20090407-immigration-occupation.html

Some interesting points: Iran is under Asia rather than Middle East; and sales-related professions seem to be the most popular occupation.

NYT Immigration Chart

I am having way too much fun with this NYT immigration chart:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html

You can get stats based on year (as far back as the 1800's!) and country.

Thanks to the NYT's Matthew Bloch and Robert Gebeloff.

Amica and Renter's Insurance

So it's 2AM on Saturday morning, I've just finished watching a terrible movie (Love, Honour and Obey, a BBC flick that came out in 2000), and I remember that a friend of mine told me to get renter's insurance.

Not being a materialistic type of person, I don't own that much expensive stuff, so I never bothered with renter's insurance. Well, as it turns out, renter's insurance is helpful because it also contains other components, like liability insurance. As my friend said, if you are walking and you accidentally bump an old lady into the street, causing her to die, your personal assets are at risk. That's where renter's insurance apparently comes in, to protect your personal assets. (Note: I do not own a home; otherwise, homeowner's insurance may have covered me.) It all seems counter-intuitive, but I guess it makes sense in the crazy world of insurance.

My friend recommended buying renter's insurance from my auto insurer to get a discount, but I decided to go with a different company. My auto insurer is Progressive, and they're not known for anything other than auto insurance. He also recommended buying an umbrella policy, but I forgot about that.

Anyway, I go online to find a good insurance company, and I stumble upon this website:

http://insurancenewsandviews.blogspot.com/

http://insurancenewsandviews.blogspot.com/2009/02/best-home-insurance-companies-usaa.html

I find that Chubb and Amica have good rankings (I'm not eligible for USAA, and Erie reminds me too much of a Civ Pro case), and I go with Amica. I log onto their website and use Amica's "live chat" feature. I get this great customer service rep who guides me through the process. Throughout the whole exchange, I am thinking, "This is great. It's almost 3:00AM right now, and this guy is alert and on the ball." Because of the time difference, I thought maybe the customer service rep was in India. At the end of the whole thing, I ask where he's from. Turns out he's from Spokane, WA.

Here's the exchange:

Matt: Given the time diff, I assume you're in India. What part of India are you in?

Matt: Gu[j]arat?

Joseph N.: Spokane, WA.

Matt: Oh, wow.

Matt: Very cool.

Joseph N.: We do it the hard way, graveyard, old fashioned right?

Matt: No wonder your English was perfect :-)

Matt: Damn good customer service, buddy.

Joseph N.: Thank you! We have people for you 24/7, so if you ever want to look at switching your auto let us know ;)

Joseph N.: I appreciate it!

Matt: Don't stay up too late. Have a good night.

Matt: Bye.

Joseph N.: You as well, goodbye.

I've always wondered if outsourcing customer service results in less overall quality. Of course, it depends on the individual, but perhaps there's something to be said for encouraging live, domestic customer service. I ended up buying the policy. I pay by credit card on Monday.

Oh, I learned a new word, too: "binding." A verbal confirmation of insurance coverage is called "binding"--as in, "I can bind the policy effective today." Who knew?

I am off to bed.

Update: the NYT just had an interesting article on insurance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/your-money/life-and-disability-insurance/18wealth.html

Blog Referral

I'm still recovering from tax day, so not much writing for me today. But here's a blog I just found:

http://undomesticmama.typepad.com/the_undomestic_mama/

It's mainly about econ, of course.