“By the mid-1920s, the term “autocamper”— describing drivers whose trips were long enough to necessitate stops at night to camp —entered the national lexicon. Thanks were due in large part to Henry Ford and three of his friends: the inventor Thomas Edison, the tire-company magnate Harvey Firestone and the naturalist and author John Burroughs.”
“…when Ford and Edison, joined by Firestone (one of Ford’s major suppliers) and Burroughs (Ford enjoyed his books and essays on nature), set out on their summer car trips, Americans were eager to share every moment. The Vagabonds’ car-and-truck caravan was routinely followed by packs of journalists and film crews, the latter often hired by Ford. In theaters, feature films were proceeded by news “shorts,” and audiences enjoyed watching Ford perform basic roadside repairs and Edison snooze beside a campfire…”
“Will price transparency lower health care costs? Economic theory and hospital opposition suggest it would, but the answer is not as straightforward as you might expect and could differ from market to market. Health care is a really strange economic sector, and it doesn’t always follow the usual rules.”
…hospitals with low fees may demand the higher prices charged by sister institutions. Since 70% of hospital markets are so consolidated that they lack effective competition, the ability of low-priced institutions to push fees up should not be underestimated.
…some research also shows that in the absence of understandable quality information, some consumers assume that high price means high quality and are actually drawn to higher-priced institutions. There’s a reason, after all, that the Ritz is more expensive than Motel 6.
“Will price transparency lower health care costs? Economic theory and hospital opposition suggest it would, but the answer is not as straightforward as you might expect and could differ from market to market. Health care is a really strange economic sector, and it doesn’t always follow the usual rules.”
Boomers Daily 