I'm sure I do not have to rehearse the details of the bet offered by the late Julian Simon and accepted by Paul Erhlich which proved conclusively that the latter simply had no idea of human affairs and how they work. Well now we have another wager with a similar forecasting factor being offered, this time by Don Boudreaux, proprietor of the Cafe Hayek, to Peter Orszag - who? No, I wasn't sure who he was either although the name rang a bell. Anyway, I can tell you that he is the Director, no less, of the Office of Budget Management under President Barack (Buddy can you spare a dime?) Obama. Boudreaux's bet is simple:
Pick any year in the future between 2021 and 2046. Tell me your estimate today of how much Uncle Sam will spend on health care that year. I’ll bet each of you $5,000 that Uncle Sam’s actual expenditures on health care in that year — adjusted for inflation — will be at least 25 percent higher than your estimate.
The other person joined in this double-bet challenge is Nancy-Ann DeParle who is the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform. She can afford to risk losing the bet because, according to Wiki, after her service in the Clinton administration she earned close to $6 million serving on the boards of several companies facing federal investigations. Apparently, again from Wiki, several of these companies have a stake in the Health Care bill she has helped to draft.
Anyway, we shall have to wait and see if Boudreaux has any takers - don't hold your breath!
You want to hear from one of the geniuses who gave us the health care bill? I really don't think this guy was fooling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZczIgVXjg&feature=player_embedded#
Don't you love it? He's concerned that it might tip over!!!!
Posted by: Dom | Friday, 02 April 2010 at 00:13
Good grief, Dom, what was he on? Or perhaps he had just lunched 'not wisely but too well'. Unbelievable!
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 02 April 2010 at 09:45