From time to time, we use the OK Policy blog to post submissions we receive from Oklahomans who have interesting perspectives on important policy issues for the state. This entry is from Adam Kupetsky, a resident of Tulsa .

Even after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression almost sank us into a second Great Depression, some politicians still believe that “no regulation” is the answer.  Regardless of the industry concerned, politicians with lobbyists’ money in their pockets or ideologies to prove correct find reasons to oppose effective regulation and make it possible for free market excesses to reduce our confidence in the free market.

Opposition to regulation in any form is just as radical and crazy as a socialist’s complete opposition to the market.

The truth is that Americans want the market to be left alone when it works and for the government to step in and regulate when the market doesn’t work.  Health care is one example where the market has not worked completely and requires some government regulation of private insurance companies.  Absent some government regulation of health care, insurance companies have shown that they will not provide coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, will impose lifetime spending caps, will deny coverage to the sick and will keep prices unreasonably high. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the course of the last several years, employers have begun to take a more active interest in their employees’ physical fitness. You hear more and more about companies, such as Chesapeake, that will even go as far as giving financial incentives for living healthy lifestyles. Companies will offer seminars or host lunch-and-learns about how to become more healthy. They may even pay for or subsidize gym memberships. Companies are doing this because they realized that their employees were getting increasingly unhealthy, which was leading to loss of productivity due to sick days taken and to increases in insurance premiums for the companies. However, the physical health of their employees is not the only health in which companies may want to take an interest.

According to USA Today, the number one cause of stress in the workplace is personal finances. In fact, a study conducted by Virginia Tech found that the average worker spends 21 hours per month handling personal financial issues while on the job. As the recent economic situation unfolds around the globe, the stress levels of employees is likely to be increasing as well. Employers may see a mutual benefit to initiating some sort of financial wellness program, the way some companies have done with physical wellness. In fact, some local companies have done just that and provide great examples for others.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re anything like me or most anyone I know, chances are you’ve spent a good part of the last year reading and listening to stories about “collateral debt obligations” and “credit default swaps” and “toxic assets” and “zombie banks” and the like, with only a partial and fleeting understanding of what any of these things are, much less what they all mean. A recent episode of the NPR program This American Life titled “Bad Bank” does about as good a job as anything I’ve come across in explaining the great, big hairy mess that is threatening the U.S. banking industry and the whole global economy  in straightforward, understandable, and yes, entertaining terms. From the show’s introduction:

Alex [Bloomberg] and Adam [Davidson] walk us step by step through the complications of the US government buying up bad assets from banks, and explain why, when it comes to footing the bill, the government might just prefer to not be in charge of the very banks it is having taxpayers bailout.  From a dollhouse, to a hypothetical bank worth tens of dollars, to the trillions of dollars being spent to keep banks afloat, Alex and Adam talk economy, and where we might be headed.

You can listen to the full 40-minute segment online or download it as a podcast for $0.95.