Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - November 8, 2009

• Florida's public option for property insurance is unsustainable. And with a hurricane headed for the panhandle, that should be a warning that anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop.
• Yet the US House has just approved a public option for health-care insurance. Government can shut down the competition just by being present. They don't have to issue orders shutting down the competition; they just have to set rules that others cannot afford. If the Federal government offers a "public option" for health insurance, that just creates one more long-term obligation that piles on top of lots of other debts. And as the debts pile up, the risk that the government will start inflating the economy to cover the gap. We can't just inflate forever, and we can't go on borrowing more every year than most countries even make. So that which cannot go on forever will eventually stop...but we don't have to let it stop painfully and abruptly.
• Productivity grew a lot last quarter -- great news
• But the UIHC union voted to block H1N1 vaccines, which puts patients at risk