1. Samuel Preston and Jessica Y Ho on how reduced life expectancy in the United States need not implicate the health care system. I pointed out a similar argument in an earlier post. Here's a more spirited defense from Gary Becker.
2. Richard Posner and Gary Becker on the obesity epidemic, both making interesting, but not completely persuasive arguments. Posner argues that the growth in obesity, as well as its correlation with education, can be explained by a lack of information about the harms of fatty or calorie-laden foods. He argues that this implies that prevention campaigns that warn people of the dangers of fatty foods (through, for example, calorie labeling) are the best way to tackle the obesity epidemic.
Becker does not buy this (taking a not-so-subtle sweep at behavioral economics along the way), arguing that a fully-informed rational agent model can explain trends in body-weight. In particular, he argues that the development of effective pharmacotherapy for diseases like diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease may dissuade individuals from giving up unhealthy foods since the future cost of consumption are attenuated. He also criticizes Posner's position that obese individuals confer externalities on other members of society.
3. The NBER has a set of links to video lectures by John List and Michael Kremer on field experiments in economics and in developing countries, respectively. I've seen the latter set and it is quite good.
