Decision of the Month

Books





The Secrets of Creativity?

May 17th, 2012

The best thing about bad art is that it makes fodder for great reviews. Take the opening line of Mina Strohminger’s review of Colin McGee’s “The Meaning of Disgust”: “In disgust research,” she writes in The Journal of Aesthetics and Critical Art, “there is shit, and then there is bullshit.”

Guess which category she thinks McGee’s book falls under?

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White Castle Wars?

May 14th, 2012

When New Jersey decided to hike its minimum wage by some 20 percent in 1991, David Card and Alan Krueger recognized a tremendous opportunity to test how the minimum wage affects employment.

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Is the Minimum Wage Bad for Teenagers?

May 9th, 2012

Things were flush in New Jersey. The Reagan presidency had ended, with national unemployment dropping from a high of almost 11 percent in the President’s first term to just about 5 percent as he left office.

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A 40,000 Foot View of Obamacare

May 4th, 2012

“How can the government make us buy health insurance?  What gives them that right?”

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Why I Write Books

May 2nd, 2012

“I just finished reading your book You’re Stronger than You Think and felt compelled to write you. I found it tremendously enriching from both a personal and professional point of view.”

That was the opening sentence from a recent e-mail I received from a complete stranger. Truth be told, it is impossible to get too many e-mails like this!

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Is Health Insurance Too Cheap?

April 30th, 2012

Researchers at USC recently published a study designed to find out how much people are willing to pay for better drug coverage from their health insurance plan.

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Daycare Versus Obamacare

April 24th, 2012

According to a new study, daycare will increase your child’s health, intelligence and social development.  But do you think the study is scientifically rigorous enough to justify this conclusion?

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Avoiding the “R” Word in Health Policy Debates

April 17th, 2012

A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association in Chicago, to discuss the morality of whether physicians should ration care from their patients.

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Paying an Arm and a Leg for a Month of Life?

April 13th, 2012

Imagine for a moment that you are an oncologist caring for a 53-year-old man with metastatic cancer, a person whose tumor has spread to lung and liver.  With standard chemotherapy, this man can expect to live around 12 months.  That standard treatment isn’t all that expensive in today’s terms, only $25,000 and his insurance company will pick up the entire tab since he is already maxed out on his yearly deductible and co-pays.

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Does Anybody Want to Pay for Depression Treatment?

April 10th, 2012

Imagine for a moment you are suffering from an illness that makes you feel like your soul has been run over by an angry defensive lineman, a disease that interferes with your desire to sleep, eat and make love. Oh, and this illness will continue to make you feel this way for the rest of your life. How much would you be willing to pay for a treatment makes you feel normal again?

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I am a physician and behavioral scientist. My research and writing explores the quirks in human nature that influence our lives -- the mixture of rational and irrational forces that affect our health, our happiness and the way our society functions....

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Have a question or just want to get in touch? Email me at peter.ubel@duke.edu

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