Hearing Economics

[This post was originally published at Hearing Economics on January 24, 2012 ] Who are the most ruthless capitalists in the Western world?”  Bankers? Oil companies?  Health insurers?  None of the above; they are actually academic publishers… their monopolistic practices make Walmart look like a corner shop and Rupert Murdoch a socialist.  {{1}}[[1]] George Monbiot writing in The Guardian, quoted in The Robber

The last post on Government regulation introduced gluts and shortages, both undesirable, inefficient and unsustainable–theoretically– in a free market. “Theoretically” because the free market of classical economics is modeled on a world of “complete information, interchangeable goods and services, and lack of market power” — a world that exists only in theory.  Laissez-faire{{1}}[[1]]tr:  Leave [us] alone.[[1]]  gets closer to free market reality

As promised last week, today’s post concludes our two-week celebration of International Coffee Week by providing an updated table linking coffee/caffeine intake to health effects.  The original table appeared in April and you can see that it’s grown quite a bit in only four months.  The fly in the ointment continues to be a glaring lack of evidence and information

The world observes National Coffee Day on September 29.  England (obviously the most Advanced Country in the World) gives coffee a full week of festivities, adulation and celebrations in April. Throughout the year, there are whole cultures and religions (e.g., coffee kosherology)  actively working on coffee, exploring the finer points of Starbucks on websites, examining its Official Guidelines and loyalty programs.  South Korean pilgrimages to worship “higher

The first post in this series reminded readers why small firms have to come up with small but inventive cost-containment ideas to compete in competitive markets.  Idea #1 was to eliminate old expensive monitoring technology (security systems) and switch to inexpensive portable systems (smartphones with remote web cams).  Total estimated savings over 3 years (my wild guess):  $2600. Here is

Editor’s Caveat:  Hearing Economics strives for a broad economic view, rarely getting down to nuts and bolts of running a practice–you’ll find those in our Hearing Health section.  However.  today’s post is the first in a series that reveals my dirty, or nutty, little secrets for cost cutting.  They’re not clever and they’re not real secrets, but they are little — most only work (if they

A few weeks ago, Hearing Economics ventured into Ethical territory — not a place Economists like to visit though it’s part of the job.  Nevertheless, we’re back in that quagmire of bad decisions, their effects on practices, and whether they are Moral Temptations or true Ethical Dilemmas.  The latter surface when there is a clash between two or more moral

“The secret of success is to get up early, work late and strike oil.” John D Rockefeller Recent posts at Hearing Economics have put forth the position that independent hearing healthcare providers — Audiologists and dispensers — are like wheat farmers, in the sense that they are toiling away in fields, under the hot sun, hoping their harvest is not

Several posts ago, Hearing Economics looked at the Supply Curve in a free market and likened independent Audiologists to wheat farmers, in the sense that they exercise little if any influence on Pricing.  That post evoked comment from a regular reader: C:  Holly, you using the analogy of how hearing aid professionals are like wheat farmers is bitterly ironic, as

Last time Hearing Economics described thefts and deceptions in professional settings. Transgressions were bizarre, some absurd, but all actually happened. Most were illegal; all received some form of punishment.  The point was that owners and managers are responsible for imposing and enforcing checks and balances in hearing healthcare environments in order to protect patients, staff, and assets from theft and manipulation.