CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. CONSUMER
Major mortgage lenders agree to halt foreclosures for many borrowers.CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer puts the subprime mortgage shakeup into historical perspective:
“Analyzed relative to the economy as a whole, the current subprime crisis appears likely to have a significantly smaller overall impact than the S&L crisis or the housing foreclosures that took place during the Great Depression. … Analyzed in isolation, economic statistics mean little. The United States, for example, has more unemployed citizens than does France, even though France has an unemployment rate about twice as high as America’s. Raw numbers mean almost nothing: To measure the economic impact of financial events, it is important to look at them in context.”
2. ENVIRONMENT
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg compares global warming to the threat from terrorism.CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy Policy Myron Ebell on the real threat from global warming:
“Although global warming has been described as the greatest threat facing mankind, the policies designed to address global warming actually pose a greater threat. The Kyoto Protocol and similar domestic schemes to ration carbon-based energy use would do little to slow carbon dioxide emissions, but would have enormous costs. These costs would eventually fall most heavily on the poorest nations in the world.”
3. HEALTH
The Washington Post examines the importance of health care as an issue to American voters.CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on problem with health care spending in the U.S.:
“Although chronic disease is a more important issue than the access issues that Democrats tend to complain about or the cost issues that distract most conservatives, even it’s only part of the story. The real problem is this: the U.S. spends more on health care than anyone else and can’t claim to have the best health care system in the world by any standard. It’s quite possible we should spend even more on health care – it’s not necessarily wasteful – but if we do, we should do what we can to make sure that we live even longer, better, healthier lives.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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