Feed on
Posts
Comments

Here we go at the WaPo again:

Female doctors earn $50,000 less than male doctors

You’d think that what follows is research from a peer-reviewed paper that controls for all of the factors that belong in earnings functions, using simple Mincer equations or more complicated methodology, and that this $50,000 difference is what remains after controlling for “explainable” factors. But you’d be wrong. And of course, even if we did include controls for specialty and family background, it must be the case that men enter higher paying professions because those simply are more available to them. If it’s not discrimination in the labor market, it is pre-market discrimination. If it’s not pre-market discrimination, it is educational discrimination. If it’s not … well, you get the point. NOTE of course that it CAN certainly be discrimination, but this is not the way to make that point.

And in other news, and by all means do take the time to read them: employEES at California’s biggest peach farm don’t want to be unionized, the union hasn’t acted there for 20 years, but now wants mandatory union dues paid (and wants the farm to fire workers otherwise) by the 5,000 seemingly happy workers (who are paid much more than most farm workers and seem to get reasonable benefits too). Read the details. And folks wonder why unions get a bad rap. This ain’t freedom of association. It’s thuggery.

Finally, you might enjoy this. All U of R students get a Go Green sticker to display their commitment to sustainability. So, if a kid doesn’t display it, can I assume she wants to install roller coasters in the Grand Canyon? And nice touch, putting Go Green materials into toilet stalls. Not from the Onion either.

2 Responses to “The New Scientific Method, Illustrated”

  1. Harry says:

    The Eco Reps on every floor reminds me of how Castro organized Cuban neighborhoods with a committed communist on every block to watch for enemies of the revolution.

    It looks like they are trying to get control of the toilet stalls, making your business their business. The Occupy movement gains a new dimension.

  2. Harry says:

    Maybe the WaPo writer meant, “Gynecologists make $50,000 less than urologists.”

    The beggar thy neighbor approach is already pushing young smart people away from the ordeal and expense of getting an MD, especially if the goal is to become an American version of the NHS, which Harry Reid admitted was the ultimate goal in a moment of candor.

    Do they believe the smart kids are stupid, and that will toil away in Organic Chemistry 359, and risk their 4.5 GPA to become an employee of the state, but with longer hours, than a commodity trader in Chicago?

    OK, there are other careers in medicine than treating ordinary sick people, like plastic surgery and biological engineering, but what guarantee does one have that the mighty hand of government will not strike them down, using the limp argument of fairness? When we punish success, we get less of it, and the amount of water in the single waterhole dries up. Then we all eat Haiti cookies made of mud chocolate.

Leave a Reply