High Medical Cost

Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

There is an excellent 90 minute movie about high medical cost, Escape Fire. This is an opportunity to try something different. The first half of the movie will be shown at our next meeting. This will give us 45 minutes of discussion time. We will show and discuss the second half of the movie in the followup session on Nov. 7.

The movie website has an issues page, HERE.

Income Inequality Followup

The Bain Center will be closed in the morning of Thursday, Oct. 24

Here is the local inequality for near Howard County. This was emailed by Ken and added as a comment to the previous post. Remember, from Norm's presentation, that the Gini Coefficient is between zero and one, where zero is perfect equality and one is perfect inequality.

First, here’s Howard County vs. nearby counties and other jurisdictions:

Rank	County	Median Household Income	Gini Coefficient
1	Loudoun County VA	$117,876	0.3670
2	Howard County MD	$108,844	0.3909
3	Fairfax County VA	$107,096	0.4229
5	Arlington County VA	$100,474	0.4294
11	Montgomery County MD	$94,965	0.4504
12	Prince William County VA	$93,744	0.3710
15	Charles County MD	$90,880	0.3937
18	Anne Arundel County MD	$89,179	0.4119
19	Calvert County MD	$87,449	0.4090
21	St Marys County MD	$86,358	0.3779
38	Alexandria city VA	$81,160	0.4404
39	Frederick County MD	$80,765	0.3827
42	Carroll County MD	$80,028	0.3858
90	Prince Georges County MD	$69,879	0.3951
116	District of Columbia	$66,583	0.5343
148	Baltimore County MD	$62,444	0.4396
713	Baltimore city MD	$39,241	0.5008

and then Maryland vs. other high-income states and the U.S. as a whole:

Rank	County	Median Household Income	Gini Coefficient
1	Maryland	$71,122	0.4473
2	New Jersey	$69,667	0.4718
3	Alaska	$67,712	0.4232
4	Connecticut	$67,276	0.4915
5	District of Columbia	$66,583	0.5343
6	Hawaii	$66,259	0.4257
7	Massachusetts	$65,339	0.4813
8	New Hampshire	$63,280	0.4298
9	Virginia	$61,741	0.4661
10	Minnesota	$58,906	0.4441
	United States	$51,371	0.4757

Income Inequality

Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013, 9am to 10:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Next week, we will start a new topic, Income Inequality. Norm will lead the discussion. Here is his preliminary list of issues we can talk about:

THE  FOLLOWING ARE TYPICAL QUESTIONS THAT WILL LIKELY BE DISCUSSED DURING THE SESSION ON October 17, 2013.

What is income anyway? 

What type of people are in the top and bottom income brackets?

What is a fair wage and how is it determined?  Do market forces matter?

Does income affect life expectancy? obesity? infant mortality?

Does income inequality affect our attitude, philosophy, ideology, health?

What advantages result from income inequality?  Disadvantages?

What is the Gini coeffieient and how is it calculated?

Can we reduce income inequality in a capitalist economy?  Should we? How?  Have other countries done so?  Is the US such an outlier we have no peers?

Why do portions of the lower 90% vigorously resist any effort to increase additional taxes on the top 0.1%’s?  Are the rich really job creators? Is it a fairness issue?  Undemocratic?  Would the additional tax diminish our entrepreneurial incentive to be 0.1%ers some day?

Suggested videos:

• Wealth Inequality in America
• Nick Hanauer: The Banned TED Talk
• Richard Wilkinson: How economic inequality harms societies
• Michael Sandel: Why we shouldn't trust markets with our civic life

Books on Inequality:

• The Price of Inequality, 2012, Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Laureate)
• The Great Divergence, 2012, Timothy Noah
• Inequality and Instability, 2012 James K Galbraith
• Falling Behind, 2007, Robert H Frank

Zoom-In on Israel Palestine

For the Zoom-In session of the Israel-Palestine conflict, we will focus on two issues, US involvement and the way forward.

1) A good summary of US involvement in Israel can be found HERE in Wikipedia. I was surprised to learn that the US did not really get involved Israel until the 1967 war. Before then the Arabs look favorable on the US primarily because of its role in the Suez Crisis of 1956.

2) The best hope for the way forward seems to be in the growing non-violence movement in Palestine. The referenced article is about non-violent resistance advocated by the Palestinian National Initiative which is independent from Fatah or Hamas.

------------ 10/5 Update ----------

Michael, here are some of the things I would like to emphasize on Thursday (probably more than you had in mind:

    1.  Re article “Obstacles to Peace – Israel’s Duplicity” (which everyone should have received either by blog or in print):  A CHALLENGE:  If you can find one important agreement which Israel has made which it has not reneged on, I will take you to lunch (at McDonald’s or somewhat better); au contraire, if you can find nothing, you take me to lunch.  (Please re-read this article.)

    2.  Zionism vs Judaism (see “Hidden History of Zionism” and quotes from several prominent Jews.  The power of the Christian Zionists

    3.  Arab League Peace Plan of 2002.  Why did Israel not respond to this?

    4.  Is there something more insidious than US-Zionist organization (i.e., AIPAC, etc.) which makes the US so subservient to Israel?  (Ref. “Eisenhower’s Secret Wars,” in which he threatened Britain “ .. with a run on the pound which would drive it into the ground” PBS 3-  -13.  Can one country have that much control over another’s currency?

    5.  The US failure to stand up for its citizens who have been killed by Israel, including the USS Liberty victims

    6.  Hedges quote re “enticing children like mice into a trap.”  I will never forget this.

    7.  Non-Zionist Jews

    8.  US a “dishonest” broker – even though the US should have a lot of clout with Israel, it appears always that Israel is calling the shots.  (George Ball gives many instances of this.)

    9.  Zionist questionable practices in recruiting Jews to Israel (see Zionist Connection).  “False flag” operations

    10.  Palestinian demand, not so much for a “literal” right of return,  but rather a recognition that a wrong has been done them, and that they should have the right to travel freely within Palestine/Israel.

    11.  Israel’s power worldwide

    12.  designation of  “terrorist”(Palestinian) vs “freedom fighter”  (Zionist) e.g., assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte

    13.   US media bias

Dory