On the Obamacare Birth Control Mandate

The following Letter to the Editor is a response to an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal by John Cochrane, Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. In his letter, Cochrane critiques the Obamacare birth control mandate in terms of how it negates the "don't sweat the small stuff" theory of insurance demand, which states that overall health costs will rise if insurance covers small costs rather than catastrophic damages. My response to this article highlights some potential oversights that Cochrane makes in his analysis of this theory.

Link to article: The Real Trouble with the Birth Control Mandate                     

Grand Opening: Kobe Bryant vs. Lebron James!

Kobe Bryant

Lebron James

This blog post marks the grand opening of "The Eclectic Muse"! I thought that the best way to start things off would be a post on one of the most controversial issues of the 21st century: who is a better basketball player... Kobe Bryant or Lebron James?

When it comes to debates on ESPN, Facebook, web forums, and YouTube videos, this question has never been unequivocally answered. That's because both of these players are so good at their particular skillset that's its really difficult to conclusively determine who's better. Currently in his 16th season in the NBA, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is currently considered the most "clutch" and hard-working player in the NBA, someone who you can always count on to hit those buzzer-beater shots. He's considered the closest player to Michael Jordan in terms of closing the game and has won 5 championship "rings" to prove it.  However, Kobe is also incredibly streaky and holistically more inaccurate than the vast majority of the top players in the league, producing as many as 81 points or usually even as few as 8 at a very low field goal percentage. On the other hand, in his 9th season, Lebron James of the Miami Heat is known for his sheer basketball talent. Unlike Kobe, he consistently plays at an NBA-high level of accuracy, rebounding, assists... you name any statistical category on an NBA stat sheet and Lebron is almost always near the top. Lebron is a fantasy god, as he practically carries any team that he's currently playing on to the first seed of the NBA. However, although Lebron has proved his talent during regular season games, he is infamous for "choking" during critical moments and has not proven himself by winning a championship ring, as the meme below illustrates.