Why not abolish employer-provided health insurance?

Ashish on November 26, 2019

Car insurance in the United States is a system that more or less works well. You call up insurance agents representing different insurance companies with similar policies but the varying quality of service. Then you buy it based on how much insurance premium they charge and how good/bad quality of service you are willing to accept. If you have an expensive car or you are a reckless driver, you end up paying more. The less you use your insurance, the lower your premium becomes over time.

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Bottled water at Tourist places

Ashish on June 1, 2017

Shops love selling them since the margins are great, the local government loves them since it brings in additional tax revenue, and the tourists love them since they don’t want local bacteria to interfere with their enjoyment of authentic experiences. Mother nature pays the price. It’s a classic example of negative externality where the local businesses, the local government, and the tourists get the [perceived] benefits at the expense of the environment.

About 50 Billion water bottles are consumed every year. 80% end up in the form of landfills. 67 million barrels of oil is used every year to produce and transport them enough to fuel four million cars for the whole year. Next time you are planning to buy one, it might be worth considering alternatives. Hydration packs or collapsible bottles are an investment worth making upfront. While traveling, I usually fill them before leaving a safe place, for example, a hotel, hostel, or a restaurant, so that, I am not taking the risk of consuming unfiltered water or ending up on a remote island where there is no water fountain.

Why KBB overprices cars

Ashish on April 23, 2016

KBB is used in the US for estimating the value of a used car before buying/selling it. While helping friends buy used cars, I felt that it always overvalued the car. I feel there is an anchoring effect in play here. A car owner (seller) feels happier checking the value of their car since it is being reported higher than what they expect. This provides a nice room for providing a discount for converting the buyer.  A buyer, especially a first-time one, would feel happier since they are getting a discount on the KBB value. If instead KBB rightly priced the cars, it would leave no room for negotiation, leading to lower conversions. Thus, despite having no direct incentives, KBB would be inclined towards overvaluation. I wonder if the same thing applies for home-buying sites like Zillow and Trulia.