Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

---

• Is the U.S. Headed in the Right Direction?
• Future of Medicine: Meet Sedasys - Your New Robot Anesthesiologist
• The "Right Value" of the Indian Rupee
• Government Shutdown is a Fantastic Idea

Is the U.S. Headed in the Right Direction? Posted: 28 Sep 2013 08:33 PM PDT Polling Report has an interesting data series on Direction of the Country. Here is the question: "In general, do you think things in the nation are headed in the right direction, or have they gotten off on the wrong track?" The polls were conducted by Bloomberg, CBS News/New York Times, NBC News/Wall Street Journal, ABC News/Washington Post, Gallup, Pew, and other polling agencies. The Bloomberg National Poll (show below) was conducted by Selzer & Company. Sept. 20-23, 2013. Sample size was 1,000 adults nationwide. The margin of error is ± 3.1. To produce the table and graph below, I reordered the rows in date chronological order so that the most recent recent dates are last. These results are from Bloomberg polls, with dates as shown. Click on the link above to see results from other polling agencies (in table, not chart form). Date Right Direction % Wrong Track % Unsure % 9/10-14/09 40 52 8 12/3-7/09 32 59 9 3/19-22/10 34 58 8 7/9-12/10 31 63 6 10/7-10/10 31 64 5 12/4-7/10 27 66 7 3/4-7/11 28 63 9 6/17-20/11 26 66 8 6/15-18/12 31 62 7 9/21-24/12 33 60 7 12/7-10/12 38 55 7 2/15-18/13 37 54 9 5/31-6/3/13 32 60 8 9/20-23/13 25 68 7 The Wrong Track click on chart for sharper image Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Future of Medicine: Meet Sedasys - Your New Robot Anesthesiologist Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:55 AM PDT Johnson & Johnson's new sedation machine promises cheaper colonoscopies, but anesthesiologists, among the highest paid physicians, don't like it one bit. It's yet another case of robots replacing humans. Please consider the New York Times article Robots vs. Anesthesiologists. Anesthesiologists, who are among the highest-paid physicians, have long fought people in health care who target their specialty to curb costs. Now the doctors are confronting a different kind of foe: machines. A new system called Sedasys, made by Johnson & Johnson, would automate the sedation of many patients undergoing colon-cancer screenings called colonoscopies. That could take anesthesiologists out of the room, eliminating a big source of income for the doctors. More than $1 billion is spent each year sedating patients undergoing otherwise painful colonoscopies, according to a RAND Corp. study that J&J sponsored. An anesthesiologist's involvement typically adds $600 to $2,000 to the procedure's cost, according to a research letter published online by JAMA Internal Medicine in July. By contrast, Sedasys would cost about $150 a procedure, according to people familiar with J&J's pricing plans. Hospitals and clinics won't buy the machines, instead paying a fee each time they use the device, these people say. The $150 would cover maintenance and all the costs of performing the procedure except the sedating drug used, which would add a few dollars, one of the people says. As J&J prepares for a limited rollout, many anesthesiologists are sounding the alarm. They say the machine could endanger some patients because it uses a powerful drug known as propofol that could be used improperly. They also worry that if the anesthesiologist isn't in the room, he might not be able to get to an emergency fast enough to prevent harm. During testing, none of the 1,700 patients sedated by Sedasys required rescuing, says Steven Shafer, editor in chief of the medical journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, who helped J&J develop the machine. He says that the machine's use is limited to healthy patients who aren't at risk for problems and that the machine has mechanisms to monitor patients and make rapid adjustments, such as boosting oxygen. "These are all things an anesthesiologist would do," says Dr. Shafer, a professor of anesthesiology at Stanford University. J&J is also developing a device that could cut anesthesiologists out of another popular procedure: surgery to insert tubes into the ears of children seeking relief from infections. J&J hopes that ear, nose and throat doctors will be able to insert its device with the push of a button, avoiding having to put the kids under anesthesia in a hospital. Meet Sedasys - Your New Anesthesiologist The median annual salary of Anesthesiologists is $286,000. That is ninth among all physicians and third among nonsurgeons surveyed by PayScale.com, a salary data and software firm. Those costs are about to change. Here is a picture of Sedasys, who bills at $150 per use. The image is from the Wall Street Journal report J&J's Sedasys Puts Challenge to Anesthesiologists What cannot go on won't. And two of the things that cannot go on are spiraling education costs and spiraling healthcare costs. I welcome these changes and assure you that more are coming. It's a good thing, but current Anesthesiologists won't see it that way. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

The "Right Value" of the Indian Rupee Posted: 28 Sep 2013 10:22 AM PDT Reader Manish, from India, pinged me today regarding a statement made by India's Finance Minister that the Right Value of Rupee is 59-60 to a Dollar Asserting that the right value of rupee is 59-60 to a dollar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said that government will make all efforts, including extending priority sector status to export credit, to boost shipments. "We think that based on the REER (real effective exchange rate) value, that (59-60) is the right level of the rupee and it should not overshoot its mark. Manish writes ... Hello Mish The Indian Govt knows the 'right' value of the rupee. How? Maybe it's because the Indian Prime Minister is one of the world's foremost economists. Perhaps it's because our brilliant Harvard educated Finance Minister threw a dart on a board. Anyway, I thought the idea was funny and thought you would too. Manish The "Right" Value in Pictures Foolish Proclamations Bureaucratic fools make proclamations based along the lines of what they want to see, even though they have no idea of the economic forces in play. The notion that India's Finance Minister knows the true value of the Rupee is idiotic, and Manish knew in advance that I would agree. Here's the deal: If governments worldwide would stop printing money and stop manipulating interest rates, we would find out in a flash what the true exchange rates should be. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Government Shutdown is a Fantastic Idea Posted: 28 Sep 2013 12:06 AM PDT Looking for a reason to support a government shutdown? If so, please consider Obama Stripped to Skeleton Staff in a Government Shutdown. A U.S. government shutdown means President Barack Obama will have fewer people to cook meals, do the laundry, clean the floors or change the light bulbs, according to a White House contingency plan. About three-fourths of president's 1,701-person staff would be sent home. The national security team would be cut back, fewer economists would be tracking the economy and there wouldn't be as many budget officials to track spending. Of the total, 438 people work directly for the president. Under a shutdown, 129 could continue working, according to the contingency plan. Biden, who has a staff of 24, would have had to make do with 12. Obama's national security staff of 66 would be cut to 42. Similar staff cuts would be imposed at the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Council of Economic Advisers and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which are all part of the president's executive office. Fantastic Idea If you think that a government shutdown is a fantastic idea (I sure do), then please contact your elected representatives and let them know. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

You are subscribed to email updates from Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610