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There is not enough substance behind a degree to warrant the ubiquitous belief that a stint in higher education is a "sine qua non" for success in America. While college diplomas may translate into higher-paying jobs for some, high school signifies little in the way of education these days, so jaded employers' estimates of the real value of bachelors degrees mean that students are paying huge tuitions to qualify for entry-level jobs. To boot, graduates generally cannot read or write very well. Our observer laments the diminishing returns and the headlong pursuit of increasingly meaningless sheepskins for everyone. (Contains 53 notes.)

People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. [...]

Unemployment compensation insurance systems may be reformed so that it would better serve the interests of businesses and employees alike. Letting market processes take over unemployment insurance would result in a less costly and more reliable income security programs if allowed to work. Market forces could also shape a system that is more equitable to all parties concerned and not just laid-off employees.

In medieval times, men devoted great efforts to the search for a formula to turn lead into gold, but the endeavor proved futile. People eventually learned they could not turn [...]

The 'unauthorized practice of law' (UPL) regulation in Arizona provides that it is illegal for anyone to provide legal services if they do not meet the requirements set by the state bar. The statute, believed to be pro-public, is an indication that the legal services is entirely the sole responsibility of the lawyers. Proponents and supporters of the UPL maintain that it simply guarantees that only the competent and qualified law practitioners are allowed to render legal service. However, the UPL is a restrictive regulation since it limits the freedom of individuals to offer voluntary deals. Alternatives to the UPL, such as certifications, have been proposed but they are yet to be fully studied.

THE LAWYER MYTH: A Defense of the American Legal Profession by Rennard Strickland and Frank T. Read 152 pages; Swallow Press, 2008 In 1999, a book entitled Approaching the Qur'an: [...]

PROHIBITIONS Edited by John Meadowcroft 269 pages; Institute of Economic Affairs, 2008 In one of those timeless 'Peanuts' cartoons, Lucy frowns and holds up a sign reading 'Help stamp out [...]

ORIGINS OF AMERICAN HEALTH INSURANCE: A History of Industrial Sickness Funds by John E. Murray 313 pages; Yale University Press, 2007 An old saying is that history is written by [...]

THEY MEANT WELL: Government Project Disasters, By D. R. Myddelton 242 pages; Institute of Economic Affairs, 2007 Those of us who favor limited Government argue that when the state gets [...]

IMMIGRANTS: Your Country Needs Them By Philippe Legrain 374 pages; Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007 Many years ago, I was a guest on a talk radio program originating in [...]

THE CURE: How Capitalism Can Save American Health Care by David Gratzer 325 pp: New York, N.Y.: Encounter Books, 2006 'Saul on the road to Damascus' political conversions are rare, [...]

STREET SMART: Competition, Entrepreneurship, and the Future of Roads Edited by Gabriel Roth 564 pages; Somerset, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2006 Suppose the United States government had a monopoly on the [...]

THE NOT SO WILD, WILD WEST By Terry L. Anderson and Peter J. Hill 250 pages; Stanford, Calif., Stanford University Press, 2004 I REMEMBER VERY well the images of the [...]

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have strict dosing guidelines, but recent studies indicate that inappropriate dosing is common, particularly in chronic kidney disease (CKD), for which it has been reported to be as high as 43%. Since 2011, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) has implemented anticoagulation management programs for DOACs, generally led by pharmacists, which has previously been shown to improve medication adherence. Objective: We investigated the prevalence of overdosing and underdosing of DOACs in the VA. Methods: Using data from the TREAT-AF cohort study (The Retrospective Evaluation and Assessment of Therapies in AF), we identified VA patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF) and receipt of a DOAC between 2003 and 2015. We classified dosing as correct, overdosed, or underdosed based on the Food and Drug Administration–approved dosing criteria. Results: Of 230 762 patients, 5060 received dabigatran (77.3%) or rivaroxaban (22.7%) within 90 days of AF diagnosis (age 69 [10[ years; CHA2DS2-VASc 1.6 [1.4]), of which 1312 (25.9%) had CKD based on estimated glomerular filtration rate <60. Overall, 93.6% of patients, 83.2% with CKD, received appropriate DOAC dosing. Incorrect dosing increased with worsening renal function. Conclusion: Compared to recent studies of commercial payers and health-care systems, incorrect dosing of DOACs is less common across the VA. Pharmacist-led DOAC management or similar anticoagulation management interventions may reduce the risk of incorrect dosing across health-care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great Philanthropic Mistakes, 2nd edition by Martin Morse Wooster 232 pages; Hudson Institute, 2010 Governmental mistakes that waste resources and make conditions worse are a well known, much analyzed phenomenon. [...]

BULLDOZED By Carla T. Main 276 pages; Encounter Books, 2007 In 2005, eminent domain became a hot national issue as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. [...]

WHAT DO UNIONS DO?--A TWENTY-YEAR PERSPECTIVE Edited by James T. Bennett and Bruce E. Kaufman 653 pages; Piscataway, N.J.: Transaction, 2007 John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods, a [...]

ELECTRIC CHOICES: Deregulation and the Future of Electric Power Edited by Andrew N. Kleit 242 pages; Independent Institute and Rowman & Littlefield, 2007 For many people living in the northeast, [...]

THE SARBANES-OXLEY DEBACLE By Henry N. Butler and Larry E Ribstein 135 pages; Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute, 2006 I judge high school debates. Those debates often go something like [...]

END OF THE LINE: The Failure of Amtrak Reform and the Future of America's Passenger Trains By Joseph Vranich 265 pages; AEI Press, 2004 Whenever I think of Amtrak, I [...]

ACCORDING TO A RECENTLY RELEASED report, the high cost of attending law school is making it hard for government agencies and public interest organizations to recruit good, new lawyers. The [...]

THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY issue of Regulation included a number of articles that discussed successes in the battle against regulation that stifles competition and restricts consumer choice. One field where there [...]

MONEY TALKS: Speech, Economic Power, and the Values of Democracy By Martin H. Redish 319 pp., New York, N.Y: New York University Press, 2001. A midst the chatter over the [...]

Discusses the legal obstacles to a market for employee representation services in the United States. Duration of the union's status as exclusive bargaining representative; Restrictions on the flow of information; Prohibition of company-sponsored unions; Establishment of a decision making procedure for labor union representations.