Source: Niskanen Center
by Lawson Mansell & Jared Rhoads
“Despite its vast wealth, the United States has fewer physicians per capita than most other developed nations. According to the OECD, the U.S. has about 2.7 physicians per 1,000 residents, ranking 28th out of 31 member countries. This shortage is partly due to the way graduate medical education (GME) is funded. Each year, the federal government allocates over $20 billion dollars to teaching hospitals through formulas designed to encourage hospitals to train medical residents and to guide trainees toward specific geographic areas and specialties. However, this system is underperforming. The U.S. graduates only about 8 new physicians per 100,000 residents annually, whereas other OECD countries train two to three times as many doctors per capita.” (01/29/25)
“Like many who do business in California, I often complain about the regulatory burden (free at last!) People will ask, ‘So what one regulation would you get rid of?’ The problem is that this is a really hard question to answer because in most cases it is not any one regulation in particular, but the accumulation of regulation. When a building collapses under a snow load, it is impossible to blame any single snowflake.” (01/28/25)
“The Bank of Canada (BOC) has trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 3 percent, cut growth forecasts and warned Canadians that a tariff war triggered by the United States could cause major economic damage. ‘A long-lasting and broad-based trade conflict would badly hurt economic activity in Canada,’ Governor Tiff Macklem said in opening remarks to a news conference on Wednesday. The prospect of such a war is clouding the economic outlook. US President Donald Trump is promising to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada on Saturday. Canada sends 75 percent of all goods and services exports to the US.” (01/29/25)
“I have an important tradition I like to uphold: every winter storm, I like to eat citrus fruit. Sumo oranges are typical, but lemons and limes will suffice too. I started this tradition when I was a visiting scholar at Syracuse University. Being in Central New York and close to Lake Ontario, winter storms happen. A lot. It starts snowing in October and doesn’t stop until May. Temperatures plummet and the wind sucks the very soul from your body. Mab, the Fairy Queen of Winter, rules supreme there for a good portion of the year. Despite winter’s icy grip, citrus is plentiful. Walk into any grocery store, and you will find mountains of fresh, high quality citrus. … some readers may dismiss my story here as commonplace. True. But that is exactly the point!” (01/28/25)
“Guess what time it is, boys and girls. Did you guess it? I’m pretty sure you did. That’s right, it’s time for the Big Switcheroo! It’s Morning in America Again time! It’s Hope and Change time! It’s Putting People First time! It’s Make America Great Again time! Yes, it’s time to change the set of the American simulation of democracy, as they do every eight, or sometimes four, years. The bad guys are out. The good guys are in. Or the other way around. It doesn’t really matter. Juice up your smartphones, switch off your brains, put on your MAGA hats or pink pussyhats. The extravaganza is about to begin! This is probably going to be a good one.” (01/28/25)
“A late-night home invasion led to a desperate shootout between an underwear-clad resident and a gun-toting intruder — leaving three people with bullet wounds, according to a shocking video from inside the Michigan house. Benjamin Nevers, 24, of Dearborn Heights, Mich., and his girlfriend were asleep in the apartment he shares with a friend over the weekend when he heard the window in his kitchen break, according to Fox 2 Detroit. Two suspects had broken in and held Nevers’[s] roommate at gunpoint in the living room, the local station reported. Nevers quickly rose from bed, picked up his gun and stood at the ready for the alleged burglarers to open his bedroom door, he said. … Security footage from inside their apartment shows Nevers, in boxers and a T-shirt, holding a pistol with both hands, wildly firing at the intruder identified by cops as Phillip Price.” (01/28/25)
“Otherwise, they’d embrace an ‘abundance’ agenda and systemically dismantle policies creating an artificial scarcity of housing and other basic goods.” (01/28/25)
“A nuclear power plant was among the targets of a massive Ukrainian drone attack against Russian oil and power facilities, Russian officials and media outlets reported on Wednesday. Air defence systems destroyed a drone attempting to strike a nuclear power facility in the western region of Smolensk bordering Belarus, Governor Vasily Anokhin said on the Telegram messaging app. … Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram that 104 drones were involved in raids across western Russia, 11 of which were destroyed over the Smolensk region.” (01/29/25)
