Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Jan 27, 2014

choi

(1) Charles Kenny, Factory Jobs Are Gone. Get Over It.
www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... ployment-inequality

Quote:

"But this factory obsession is based on flawed economics. As the Brookings Institute economist Justin Wolfers asked recently, 'What’s with the political fetish for manufacturing? Are factories really so awesome?'

"In 1953 manufacturing accounted for 28 percent of US gross domestic product, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. By 1980 that had dropped to 20 percent, and it reached 12 percent in 2012. Over that time, US GDP increased from $2.6 trillion to $15.5 trillion, which means that absolute manufacturing output more than tripled in 60 years. Those goods were produced by fewer people. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employees in manufacturing was 16 million in 1953 (about a third of total nonfarm employment), 19 million in 1980 (about a fifth of nonfarm employment), and 12 million in 2012 (about a tenth of nonfarm employment).

"Service industries—hotels, hospitals, media, and accounting—have taken up the slack. Even much of the value generated by US manufacturing involves service work—about a third of the total. More than half of all people still employed in the US manufacturing sector work in such services as management, technical support, and sales.

"Over the past 30 years, manufacturers have spent more on labor-saving machinery and hired fewer but more skilled workers to run it. From 1980 to 2012 across the whole economy, output per hour worked increased 85 percent. In manufacturing output per hour climbed 189 percent. The proportion of manufacturing workers with some college education has increased from one-fifth to one-half since 1969.

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title of print: Politicians think creating millions of high-tech manufacturing jobs is the answer. It isn't  

(b) “"Over that time [1953-2012], US GDP increased from $2.6 trillion to $15.5 trillion, which means that absolute manufacturing output more than tripled in 60 years."
(i) The GDP figures in the first clause are adjusted for inflation. Usually the baseline (for the comparison) must be explicitly indicated, but most likely both figures are based on chained 2009 dollar.
(A) chained dollar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chained_dollars
(B) Glossary: Chain index; Statistics Explained. Eurostat, European Commission, undated
epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Glossary:Chain_index
(ii) The second clause “absolute manufacturing output more than tripled in 60 years” says that although the slice of manufacturing in the pie (which is GDP) became smaller with years (RELATIVE to the pie; 1953-2012), the pie has actually grown sixty (60) times in the same period, so much so that the slice manufacturing also has grown bigger in absolute values.

(c) There is no need to read the rest.

choi

(2) Aya Takada, Japan Looks to Sake to Spur Exports.
www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-23/japans-sake-export-push

Note:
(a) There is no need to read the text.
(b) summary underneath the title of print: The fermented rice drink is growing in popularity internationally
(c) Aya TAKADA   高田 亜矢

(d) Legend to a bottle of sake: “Asahi Shuzo’s high-grade Dassai 23 sake ($300) is among the priciest on the market”
(i) shuzō 酒造 【しゅぞう】 (n): "sake brewing"
(ii) Asahi shuzō 旭酒造株式会社 (NOT 朝日酒造株式会社--there are three separate sake companies in Japan with that name, independent from one another--though kanji for the noun “asahi” can be either 朝日 (principal) or 旭, both meaning the same.
(iii) dassai 獺祭 【だっさい】 (n): "(1) arraying a number of reference books in order to compose poetry; literary composition crammed with maxims, ancient episodes, legends, etc.; (2) (orig. meaning) otters lining a catch of fish on a river bank; (people) making offerings (esp. of fish)"
(iv) kuramoto 蔵元 【くらもと】 (n): "sake brewer"
(v) Dassai sake's official website:

獺祭の蔵元
asahishuzo.ne.jp/

(e) In print, the photo of four working craftsmen has two arrows:
(i) An arrow points to a craftsman: "A kurabito, or sake brewer [a person, not a company], labors in a warm humid room called kojimuro 麹室"
(ii) The other arrows points to the rice: "Working the stiffness out of koji, or steamed rice cultivated with mold"
(A) kurabito 蔵人 【くらびと】 (n): "(1) keeper of imperial archives; (2) worker at a sake brewery"

(kura 蔵 warehouse; hito 人; both Japanese pronunciation)
(B) kōji 麹 【こうじ】 (n): "mould grown on rice, barley, beans, etc. as a starter to make sake, miso, soy sauce, etc (mold); malted rice; malt"

choi

(3) Matthew Philips, The Good News About Slow-Motion Cash.
www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... -the-speed-of-money

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title of print: Money velocity is at all-time low, which usually signals growth
(b) This article explains “velocity of money.” The article also broaches M2.
(c) Read the first five paragraphs at most. If you are not interested--and probably you will not, because significance of velocity of money is debatable--you may stop at any time.

choi

(4) John Tozzi, What’s a New Hip Cost? Surgeons Have No Idea.
www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... octors-have-no-idea

Quote:

Asked to estimate the cost of common devices, orthopedists "at seven major academic hospitals in the US were wrong 81 percent of the time, according to a January [2014] study published in the journal Health Affairs. The survey of 503 at seven major academic hospitals in the US were wrong 81 percent of the time, according to a January study published in the journal Health Affairs. The survey of 503 orthopedists at institutions including Harvard, Stanford, and the Mayo Clinic considered doctors’ answers correct if they came within 20 percent of what their hospital paid suppliers. The worst guesses ranged from a small fraction [1.8% of actual price, according to the graphic of the article] of the actual price to more than 50 times what the hospital paid.

“The doctors did so poorly in part because many medical device manufacturers require hospital purchasing departments to keep prices confidential, allowing sellers to charge some institutions more than others for the same products.

“Total spending on medical devices in the U.S. reached about $150 billion in 2010, or roughly a nickel of every health-care dollar, according to the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the industry’s trade group. The device is often the most expensive part of an orthopedic procedure, and the bill is ultimately paid by either private insurers or Medicare and Medicaid. On average, hospitals paid suppliers $5,842 for an artificial hip in 2012, according to Orthopedic Network News; a replacement knee averaged $5,104. Stan Mendenhall, the publication’s editor, says that depending on their ability to negotiate with manufacturers, hospitals can pay anywhere from $2,000 to $16,000 for artificial hips and knees. A 2012 study by the US Government Accountability Office also found wide variation in prices. ‘Some hospitals have substantially less bargaining power with the small group of companies that manufacture particular [implantable medical devices] and consequently face challenges in obtaining more favorable prices,’ the GAO wrote.

My comment:
(a) summary underneath the title of print: Secrecy in pricing keeps doctors and hospitals in the dark
(b) There is no need to read the rest.
(c) I believe a patient should given treatment options and their respective costs, so that he can make an informed decision. It turns out that doctors donot know better about pricing.