Money, money

An interesting article is found here in the latest issue of the New Yorker discussing the potential effects of bankruptcy laws on the economy. In summary, at the encouragement of credit card companies, Congress passed legislation in 2005 making it more difficult for individuals to declare bankruptcy. This was supposedly done so that credit card interest rates and fees could be kept lower for the rest of us who aren't going into ridiculous amounts of debt with unnecessary consumer spending. However, according to the article, prior to this legislation credit card companies profits tripled while bankruptcy rates doubled: clearly not a fiscal crisis. It appears that loose lending was quite profitable.

Whether or not looser bankruptcy laws are better or worse for the economy is up to debate but I still can't help but feel that as much as we expect individuals to be responsible in their spending and in discharging the debts they accumulate, we should also expect financial institutions to be responsible in their lending and evaluation of risks as they stand without either 1) Requiring legislation to shield them from risk, especially when they are making sizable profits, or 2) Having the reassurance of a federal bail-out with only a minimal episode of public embarassment when things go south.

Quick update

For those of you who don't already know, on March 20th I found out that I matched in a Radiation Oncology residency program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I'll be there for the duration of the 4-year training program, but first will spend a year in SLC doing an internal medicine internship at the Univeristy of Utah. Exciting stuff!

Finally, my adolescence is diagnosed!

I am currently sitting in the Weill-Cornell Medical College library awaiting the moment in exactly 1 hour and 40 minutes when my classmates and I alphabetically rush a table with envelopes containing the results of our residency math and, therefore, our futures for the next 3-7 years.

There was an interesting article published yesterday in the The New York Times describing the draw of dermatology and some of the more competitive (and lucrative) medical specialties. According to the article:

Dermatologists say they enjoy the variety of a specialty that encompasses serious illnesses like skin cancer and psoriasis as well as conditions like uncombable hair syndrome.

I should file a lawsuit against my teenage dermatologist for a missed diagnosis that had a serious impact on my quality of life. Damages could include pain and suffering (well, maybe just suffering) and lost wages for time spent trying to tame my mop.