The Incidental Economist

This is a TIE-U post associated with Jonathan Oberlander’s Political Dynamics and Policy Dilemmas (UNC’s HPM 757, Fall 2011). For other posts in this series, see the course intro.

I’m told that many students dread reading Paul Starr’s Social Transformation of American Medicine. I do not blame them. It is long. It is detailed. It is wonky. But, it is good medicine and an absolute must read for anyone who claims to understand our health system. Even if you disagree with it (or parts thereof), you really must know its contents.

I waited far too long to read it myself, and I think Aaron for encouraging me to do so. When I did, I blogged some passages and thoughts. You’ll find them at the following links. I have no idea if any of these overlap what Oberlander has assigned his class, so consider them supplements if they don’t and complements if they do. Either way, I hope they encourage you to read the whole thing.

• Physician organization
• An empirical revolution
• The stethoscope and the dawn of information asymmetry
• Hospital consolidation 100 years ago
• A system at war with itself
• Is (or was) the AMA pure evil?
• These are not new issues
• Interior shaping
• Early concerns of hospital cost shifting

All these posts are found under the STAM tag. Aaron also posted his own thoughts on STAM. Finally, I encourage you to pre-order Starr’s forthcoming book.

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