AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Predatory Lending Association

If you have 5 minutes to spare, check out http://www.predatorylendingassociation.com/. this is actually a parody website, spoofing the various industry-trade sites in the consumer lending industry, especially those relating to payday loans. predatorylendingassociation.com is basically an "honest" version of those sites.


Models or Not?
Netherlands for Healthcare
Finland for Education

Things have been flying at me right and left lately. Thank goodness for the exercise bike as an excuse to actually read some of it. I received my issue of the Public Citizen Health Letter which has a cover story discussing in detail the healthcare system in the Netherlands. The Dutch system has been hailed by some as an alternative to single payer plans and a model for adoption in the US. Public Citizen doesn't think so. Very briefly, the Dutch plan is a spiritual successor to the "managed competition" Clinton plan of the 1990s. The cornerstone of the plan is mandatory private insurance, with about 1/3 of the total premiums paid by the state through a health care tax. The biggest problem with the system per Public Citizen is the 30% administrative overhead consumed by the insurance companies. The system has limited benefits and does not actually provide universal care. The health letter is not available on line.

The second thing is a Wall Street Journal article about the education system in Finland. After objecting to my children's (public) school uniform policy, it is comforting to know that in Finland, where the schools beat all comers, there are no school uniforms. Surprisingly, children don't start school until age 7, and the classes are not differentiated by ability. Check out the story, it's an interesting read.