Swine flu -- What to do?

The CDC recommendations are very good. I have only a few things to add -- open the windows and if you are infected or could be infected, wear a surgical mask to protect your friends and family. Our research shows that surgical masks partially limit the shedding of virus into respiratory droplets. There is a lot of debate in the scientific community about whether influenza A viruses are transmitted by fine particle aerosols or just by large droplets and touching. It is time to be prudent -- consider aerosol transmission likely and take steps to limit it.

1. Open the windows at home.
2. Maximize dilution ventilation in mechanically ventilated buildings
3. Hold classes and religious services outdoors when possible.
4. If you have contacted someone with the flu, wear a surgical mask to limit spreading it to your family and friends.

Good sources of reliable information
For parents: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/parents.htm
In general on pandemic flu: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

AIG Bonus for Failure

The idea that AIG cannot legally get out of contracts to pay bonuses argues strongly that it is high time that this company, already 80% owned by the US Govt, be forced into a govt supervised reorganization - bankruptcy. That will quicky solve the problem of bonus contracts.

The Profzi Scheme

Anyone with a guess what the pay lines will be on the new Recovery RC1 applications at NIH?

Health Care and Competitiveness

Greg Mankiw claims that transferring health care costs to a national program will have no effect on US corporate competitiveness (especially GM) in the long run because workers eventually pay the costs anyway. So, if they pay the cost by some alternative method, they then (in the long run) ask for more in wages. This argument misses a couple of important variables by assuming that employer provided private insurance and a national health insurance program are equivalent goods with similar costs and values.

1) The value to the worker of a given quality of health care is the same, whether it is purchased in efficiently through a private insurance scheme or efficiently through a national or regional (e.g. Canadian) system.
2) The value of health care coverage to the worker is greater if it not dependent on continued employment with a single employer.

Therefore, if workers get greater value by having health care coverage not linked to their employer and that greater value comes at a lower monetary cost -- their demands for additional compensation in the long run will be less than if they were getting inferior health care at a higher cost from the employer. Thus, Larry Summers is right and Mankiw and Elmendorf are missing the point.

Hawaii Island of Oahu Without Power

The power company rushed to give Obama an emergency generator to get him though the night. Doesn't this once again illustrate the need to bury our power lines? First New England, now Hawaii. Above ground power lines are a problem everywhere. Let's bury them as we dry to dig out of the financial crisis. Now that Obama has a recent personal taste of the issue, even if quickly ameliorated, maybe he will be motivated to add this to his stimulus package.

Ice Storms and Fiscal Stimulus

New England still has 100,000 homes without electricity a week after an ice storm. People are missing work and school and much time and money is going into putting the wires back on the poles. This happens every year, maybe not on this scale, but every year thousands lose power due to winter storms. Why are we not burying the wires?!

There's a job that could employ many now and improve economic efficiency in the future.

Here's what a good bike rack looks like