Tuesday Links

Posted on by John C. Goodman

George W. Bush’s PEPFAR initiative is credited with saving at least 20 million lives. Nick Kristof calls it “the single best policy of any president in my lifetime.”

Old people are the wealthiest and most powerful demographic in the United States. Despite this, they are overwhelmingly beneficiaries of the welfare state, have seniority rights in employment, and are a protected class when it comes to anti-discrimination laws. This essay argues that this is a bad thing …..

Dickens on poverty (and an unkind word for economists).

People think chatbots are more empathetic than doctors 80% of the time.

2 thoughts on “Tuesday Links”

  2. I’m one of the “old people” that young Richard Hanania complains about.

    After my 44-year career, and my wife’s 13 years – after staying home to raise our 3 children – we retired and live on what we saved, plus Social Security which we both paid into all our working years. We also paid into Medicare all 44 years – and we both still pay into Medicare. Along the way we paid full R&B and tuition for our 3 children from undergraduate thru graduate schools. Today they all have responsible jobs and pay their taxes each year – as we continue to do.

    I don’t know how old this Hanania guy is, but he’s thinking selfishly. To shame us “old people” for accumulating wealth over a lifetime of working is not straight thinking. It ignores the model we set for younger people and worse, it ignores what we have contributed to the country over the decades.

    Of course, in America it’s still OK – for many people – to express their opinions. Even for young Richard Hanania. My opinion: his youthful selfishness is getting in the way of useful analysis.

    Reply

Join the conversation.