October 21, 2013 at 6:30 am
Austin FraktO.K., you know what to do: Google “spurious correlation health.” You are immediately led to the tale of certain Pacific Islanders who long believed that having lice made you healthy, because they observed that people with lice were, typically, healthier than those without. They were, of course, mixing up cause and effect: lice tend to infest the healthy, so they were a consequence, not a cause, of good health.
The application to Medicaid should be obvious. Sick people are likely to have low incomes; more generally, low-income Americans who qualify for Medicaid just tend in general to have poor health. So pointing to a correlation between Medicaid and poor health as evidence that Medicaid actually hurts its recipients is as foolish as claiming that lice make you healthy. It is, as I said, a lousy argument.
–Paul Krugman, NY Times
Comments closed
by AD on October 21st, 2013 at 11:18
Someone want to explain this to Avik Roy?
by Schadenboner on October 21st, 2013 at 16:37
Better be careful Austin, you’ll end up on Niall’s next shit-list.
by Austin Frakt on October 21st, 2013 at 17:40
It would be an honor.