A. Required readings for the first exam -Reading Assignment

• "The Productivity and Jobs Creation: The Long and The Shirt Run of It."  Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter
• Economic Report to the President - Chapter 2 (pages 48-49 and 58-61)

• “Japan, Sweden may offer economic recovery lessons” CNN.com, April 2, 2009
• "China’s next Revolution – Property rights in China”, The Economist, March 10, 2007
• “Entering the Wage-Price Spiral” Wall Street Journal 6/8/94  (Article NOT on exam.)
  

C. Required readings for final exam - Reading Assignment 

• "What economists do" - By Robert Lucas (Article given on first day of class.) 
• "The New Inflation Equation” Wall Street Journal, 4/6/07   (Article already distributed and discussed in lecture)
• “Japan Braces for Protracted Stretch of Deflation”  Wall Street Journal, 5/1/09 

Health Savings Accounts
             Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a series of articles on this topic..

Ethanol
            Fuel or food?; In the competition for corn, ethanol producers may be gaining ground at the expense of the world's hungry.  Star Tribune, 2/4/07

Recessions
          "This expansion looks familiar (to the one we experienced in the early 1990s before the economy surged)."   New York Times, 2/13/07

International Currency
             American's policies are putting at risk the dollar's role as the world's dominant international currency.  The Economist Dec 2, 2004

Money
           Electronic Purse  - Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, April 1995

           Is your money insured? Maybe not.   USA Today, 4/18/02

Productivity
             Why do Americans work longer hours?  by Ed Prescott, Nobel Laureate in Economics

Comparative Advantage
             Shrimp Industry Thrieves in Vietnam, Trade Fight Looms

           Lessons In India: Not Every Job Translates Overseas  WSJ  3/3/04

           Another Lure Of Outsourcing: Job Expertise WSJ  4/12/04

           Finding Lessons Of Outsourcing In Four Historical Tales WSJ  3/29/04

  
Unemployment
           Policing of Overtime in France- The Plain Dealer 6/18/98

            Unemployment Policies in Netherlands - The Economist 9/4/97

            India Employment Policies - The Economist 6/11/94
 

Legal Institutions
           Czech's Downfall Shatter's Hope for Economic Miracle - Washington Post 12/7/97

            Poor countries could help themselves get richer by fixing their institutions - The Economist 9/15/01

            Right to Good Ideas - The Economist 6/23/01

            Usary Laws - The Economist 11/28/98

Health Savings Accounts

In his 2007 State of the Union Address, Bush requested an expansion of the health savings accounts (HSA). They allow individuals to save money tax free that can be used for health expenses while purchasing an insurance policy that has a high deductible but costs significantly less than full benefit policies. The theory is that as consumers have to pay more of non-catastrophic medical costs rather than relying on insurance, they will become more informed and cost conscious purchasers of medical services.   Preliminary evidence suggest this is true, but because employees do not yet have access this information to compare doctors and medicines, they are instead turning to their employers to give to them.   So, HSA may lower health care expenses, but they have been taxing on management's time.

Even with wide agreement on the need to confront the problem, action could be stymied by the lack of consensus on the approach to be taken. This article discusses three proposed approaches – 1) single payer plan with the government as the insurer, 2) plan where workers or employers purchase high deductible insurance policies with consumers footing the bill for lesser expenditures, or 3) plan where individuals are responsible for obtaining health insurance, but firms are penalized if they fail to provide it. 

The WSJ interviewed three policy experts to gain information on the economic issues pertained toward shifting toward a consumer driven health care system.  

Finally, this article addresses whether or not HSAs are right for you?

Additional information on HSAs that future entreprenuers/business owners should read: They let consumers save and pay part of their medical expenses with tax-advantaged money. The accounts can only be opened in conjunction with an HSA-qualified insurance policy that has a high deductible. The money saved can be used for non-medical expenses, but if that is done, the money is taxed as income. At small businesses it can take a lot of effort to help employees understand, and hopefully accept, the unfamiliar accounts. The transition is difficult for employees with burdensome medical expenses and it is hard to get employees to embrace the accounts when they have not yet built up funds and are not seeing the accounts as a savings vehicle. At the onset, it is vital for bosses to put company money in the HSAs so it is not so tough for employees to adjust to the high deductibles that accompany the accounts. Many employers are attempting to make the transition easier by offering educational sessions and compiling lists of what certain services and medications will cost with local doctors and hospitals.