Fooooootbaaaalll!

Now, with a title like “Fooooootbaaaalll!” you probably think I’m going to talk about soccer.  But nope, you’re wrong, I’m going to talk about good old American Gridiron!  Last Sunday, you see, the New England Patriots played a regular season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium, one of the most expensive stadia ever built and the largest stadium in the world with every seat covered.  Needless to say, I attended.  At first I was hesitant since I was not able to convince anybody else to attend with me, and because tickets were awfully expensive, but in the end I decided that I didn’t want to miss out on any opportunities while I am living here.

I arrived at the Wembley Park tube station to find a rather spectacular walkway jammed with people on the way to the stadium, which loomed in the distance.  I purchased a ticket from a scalper on the way (after shuddering a bit at the price, which was expensive before the 20% markup – but remembering that it’s not every day one gets to see the Patriots play in England) and made my way to the stadium.  My seats were right behind the goal post and close to the field (so really not that great for watching the action) but I had a great view of the entire stadium. 

This, it turns out, was my first professional football game, and despite the foreign setting, I was not disappointed.  Tampa Bay was the “home” team, and they had everything you expect from an NFL extravaganza.  There were cheerleaders, a pre-game show, fireworks when Tampa Bay ran onto the field, and flags for all of us to wave to cheer them on.  In the end, I did not come away disappointed.

The only really “English” experiences were the national anthem and the waves.  As for the anthem, nobody sang along to Tony Braxton’s rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, which felt like a popular dance mix compared to God Save the Queen, which was sung very slowly and operatically, and had 90,000 people struggling for breath while still finishing each word before the singer.  Not really very good.  The waves, as in movements of standing people around the stadium, were fantastic because they were so much more energetic than the ones I have witnessed in the states.  As the wave would approach your quarter of the stadium you would start murmuring, growing into a very loud “oooooo” sound before you stood up and "oooo”ed at your loudest!  It was great fun because you could not only see the wave but also hear it make its way around the stadium.

As for the football game, I’m disappointed to say that I have seen better games played by Ivy League universities (who are awful at football).  The problem was that Tampa Bay didn’t really fight back.  The first interception was in the second play of the game, and resulted in a patriots touchdown!  No complaints about the victors, but it would have been nice to have an exciting game, not one that finished by running out the clock with the score an insurmountable 35-7.

A great experience nevertheless, and it furthered my resolve to show up to “novice” practice for a local American football team this Sunday. They claim that these practices are for people who have never played before, so I figure that if people who have never played the sport can join, than I, who have at least played some pick-up games, should be welcome to tag along.  I doubt they will ever let me play (they won the UK championships last year), but hopefully it will be a good way to get some exercise, make friends, and learn how to play football better!

Why can’t I get anything?

“A what?” the customer service agent asks.

“A pie tin,” I respond.  I find myself making hand gestures normally reserved for countries where I do not speak the local language natively. 

A few seconds pass before I am directed to an aisle that contains flat metal dishes, each about the size of a tea saucer.  Alas, they will not do for a pie.

Of all the things that I have found difficult to acquire here, pie tins have surprised me the most.  Surely people bake pies in this country! In fact, I know they do, and yet pie tins were not forthcoming.  Fortunately for our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration happening later that day (a couple of Sundays ago), I was able to find, after checking every home shop and department store at the mall, a couple of cake dishes that were approximately the same size and shape as a pie tin, but with vertical (as opposed to slanted) edges. 

Canadian Thanksgiving was, in all, a great success. We had about 20 people, and we’re looking to follow it up with a great American edition on the 22nd of November.  Now, if only I can find some cranberries!

Universal Healthcare Bills

You’ll have to forgive me for straying from the topic of life in London, but the bills making their way through congress have been really bothering me – not because they are too liberal or too conservative, too expensive or too cheap, but because they don’t achieve their stated objectives.  If you’re not interested in hearing my thoughts on the matter, you should probably just skip this note.  If you are interested, note that I am merely talking about achieving the apparent objectives laid out by members of congress and the administration, that is to say what I would do if I shared their objectives, a discussion for another time that is irrelevant to my complaints.

So, let’s take these as the stated objectives, which as near as I can tell are shared by the leaders of Congress and the President:

1) Universal coverage.  That is to say that every person in the United States should have coverage that meets certain requirements, at the very least, and everyone should be able to afford it.  We’ll call this the base level, and assume that there are no trade-offs allowed (e.g. the government does not want to allow people to have a higher deductible if it means more doctor visits per year).

2) A government-chartered insurer to “compete” with the private insurance companies.  Note again that I am not saying this is a good idea or a bad idea, just that it is a goal.  As an aside, I am not sure whether this can be done honestly, but whenever people say private insurers cannot compete, I keep thinking about the Postal Savings System, which was shut down after private companies bested it in almost every way. I recommend reading up on if you have not heard about it (most people have not).  Health insurance might be different than savings plans though, and it depends on the government-run one being very carefully set up not to have an unfair advantage.

So that’s it for our requirements.  Here’s what I would do:

• Charter the insurer, and set it up in a way so that it’s run at arms-length.  Set it up as for-profit, not-for-profit, whatever.  Perhaps give it a similar capital structure to a private non-profit insurer, and sell the debt at the same rates to the public, have the government buy the rest, and have the government provide the equity for free.  Perhaps the states will own the equity.  It’s material, but there are undoubtedly different ideas out there.
• Set up a national marketplace where every plan needs to have a certain minimum level, and each insurer needs to provide a plan of exactly that level.  Which is to say that there will be a homogenous product competing only on price, in addition to products that compete on features.  Require the plans to be open to everyone (at least for initial sign-up and switching between equal or lower coverage levels) and to have the basic-level plan priced the same everywhere in the country.  This is to say that the basic plan from insurer X will always cost $Y, though insurer A may only charge $B.  Any plan above the basic plan can cost different amounts in different places, but no less than the basic plan. Do not allow the states to require anything additional of the basic plans over the federal requirements.  E.g. New York cannot require that all plans cover plastic surgery for men over 40, etc.  For any plans with more than the basic coverage, the states can regulate them further, including the government-chartered plan.

So far, we’re more or less where most of the bills put us, with the exception of the level regulatory playing field I’ve created for the basic health plans.  Now, here’s where I think it becomes different:

• Provide everyone in the country with a credit of $G at the treasury for their healthcare costs.  $G is the cost of the basic level government run plan.  This is so that everyone can afford insurance, and gets to take their basic dollars where they want them.  Not only that but it’s relatively simple, compared to tax credits, etc.  You just have a database with everyone in it.  Now, allow people to pick their plan.  If they pick their employers plan, their employer can claim that credit, but they do not have to pick their employer’s plan.  If they pick an individual plan, their insurer can claim that credit.  If they pick the chartered plan that organization gets it.  If they pick an individual plan (now, remember, they all have a basic level) that costs less than $G, they will get a check from the for the difference.  Perhaps make it tax-free to encourage low-cost spending.  If they do not pick an insurer assign one to them randomly, or assign them the government one (depending on your political motives).
• Pay for it.  I don’t really care how.  All we’re doing here is shuffling money around anyway, and creating much larger risk pools.  At the very least, remove the tax deduction for employer-provided benefits.  Everyone will get the same amount tax-free, and they have an incentive to pick really cheap plans (that all provide the basic level) because they will get money back.  Right now, the people with the worst jobs, who are the poorest, have to pay the most for health insurance because they pay with after-tax money.  This is hugely inequitable.  So that will undoubtedly create savings because people might choose to consume less healthcare and select higher paying jobs rather than ones with better healthcare (which they can always add on to in the individual market).  Perhaps add a national sales tax.  Perhaps increase income taxes uniformly by income (1% across the board).  Perhaps increase income taxes non-uniformly by income (10% on the “rich”, 20% extra on the poor).  Perhaps increase taxes uniformly per capita ($G per person).  In any case, it should be completely paid for, but the beauty is that it’s easy.

The reason I state these two objectives is because I think it’s the only way that we will create uniform risk pools with truly universal coverage.  Mandates are complicated and do not address the issue of people who cannot pay, but if you give everyone the basic level of healthcare (through either a private company or the government) then a broadened risk pool is automatic.  Not only that, but it’s less legally suspect.  Requiring people to do something through an income tax surcharge would open the door to requiring people to do anything simply by adding a large tax penalty to an opposing action.  However, the federal government is more than welcome to provide any entitlement it likes – you can’t refuse something that you get automatically, and it’s not forcing you to do anything (except your taxes, but you already have to pay them).

Any thoughts?  I’d love to hear what people think.  The problem I have with the current bills is that they are over-complicated, still leave inequities (not in terms of coverage, but in terms of special treatment – people with generous company coverage are much better off  in terms of their tax-adjusted consumption levels than people with an income increased by the cost of that same coverage), and don’t achieve their stated goal of covering everyone.

I know the cost of this plan would be high, but the higher taxes would be rebated directly to individuals, meaning that they would still be in the hands of the public to be spent by the public, essentially just requiring them to consume a particular good.  I could guess that such a tax would not have the same impact on economic growth as others would. E.g. imagine a tax that you got back as a visa gift card that you can also get cash from at ATMs.  Would this impact economic growth?  Probably not because you can use it as cash or in lieu of your credit card.

A moving update

In the sense of driving.  After practicing my left-side stick-shift driving uneventfully on a couple of trips to Ikea, I found out that apparently the English practical driving test has a few rather stringent requirements.  The situation, as explained to me by my friend, is that I “know how to drive, but now [I] have to learn to take the test.” The problem is that they are very particular about a few things that I do not do naturally:

1. You are required to downshift while braking in every circumstance.  I understand that this is safer than just braking because you can accelerate away, but worse for the clutch.
2. You must use the handbrake for starting almost every time.  While this is probably safer and better for the car when you are on a hill, I do not find it natural and normally only do it on steep inclines.
3. They require you to check the mirrors constantly and in a particular order, especially while braking.  Normally when I’m braking I look at the relevant mirrors (rear-view, then the right and/or left ones depending on where I am on a road), but they want you to (apparently) go in a set order, even if you are driving on a narrow, one-lane, one-way road.

I have been advised that I should really take a few lessons before my test, which is not a bad idea, especially considering the other problem: despite being able to drive without restriction, for the test I need to have a car with special insurance and plates.  This makes no sense because it means that I am allowed to terrorize the populace while driving on my own, but that when I am supervised by a government employee, they need to be warned.  However, despite this warning the licensing authorities are unyielding, and I thus need to hire an instructor to take me to my test on the day.  As a result of all of these extra costs and hassles (£31 theory test, £75 practical test, £20/hr driving lessons for practice and the test) I decided that I’ll hold off until I know how long I’m going to be here.  The important thing is that I have a UK ID now, so I can use it of proof of address and identity.  Meanwhile, I can make sure that I do all of the tourist attractions that require driving within my first 12 months.  If I decide to take my test I will just need to take a few lessons and give myself a three month buffer (though I don’t see why I should need to drive) to have everything scheduled. The irony, of course, is that I will be legally able to drive in most countries other than the one of my residence.  Very bizarre.

On a happier note, my trips to Ikea mean that my room is now quite tidy, though still undecorated.  On my first trip I got some photo frames and a bed-side table, but discovered that they were not only a really bad color for the room, but that I didn’t need the frames anyway, since my housemates purchased many in Asia so that we could hang photos in matching frames all over the house.  After returning the frames and exchange the table, everything looks great!  Now I just need to find those frames, and get some photos printed. I have to say that I was awfully tempted by the New York City photos at Ikea, so undoubtedly I will have to make some city prints in addition to those of the family variety.

These are a few American things

Last weekend I went to see Inherit the Wind, which I had always thought was a quintessential part of every American education.  After all, I saw it myself in 7th or 8th grade, and I lived in (very recently) China.  Alas, neither of the Americans that I told about going had seen the film, and none of the people I was going with (one Canadian, one English) had either, so I think I was the only one who knew the whole story.  Kevin Spacey played the lawyer for the defendant brilliantly.  Yes, Kevin Spacey.  He’s the artistic director at the Old Vic Theatre, where he normally stays behind the scenes while bringing classic 20th century theater, often American, back to the stage.  The rest of the characters were all fantastic, and I only had reason to suspect that any of them were faking American accents on a few occasions.  My favorite character was the reporter from Baltimore, who had the characteristic film and theater accent for reporters in the early 20th century, which I have never heard spoken naturally.  I wonder if television producers made it up, or if it was in fact just the way people altered their voices to speak on the radio (as anyone who has been involved with radio knows many speakers still do).  Overall a great production, and I actually felt the desire to give a standing ovation, though I am often the one person in a crowded orchestra section who is still sitting, because I believe that our highest form of performance praise should be reserved for the highest quality of performance.  Interestingly, in this case, I was the only person standing until the second curtain call for the two leads, at which point about 1/3 of the audience stood.  Very strange.  I figure that either people are more inspired by musicals (my normal fare) or that there is something about the production that touches the American psyche, in the same way that images of Mao do not affect westerns as they do the Chinese.  That or it just made me feel happy to hear so many American accents :). 

That wasn’t the only American adventure this week.  I’ve also done a bit of grocery hunting for my housemate’s Canadian Thanksgiving party (we’re having both – a bit of competition!) and discovered that, horribly, canned pumpkin is not in stock anywhere (“coming soon,” they said, if they were a specialty store, “what?” they said otherwise), and worse, that many Canadians have never have had pumpkin pie.  To have lived and not had pumpkin pie… is it to have lived at all?  In an equally disturbing trend, it seems that chocolate chips are not quite so ubiquitous as they are in America.  Of all the things I thought would be hard to find, chocolate chips were not on the list.  It turns out that if a grocery store (fortunately not specialty store) has them, they come in a container about the size of a spice jar, with enough chocolate chips for 2 cookies.  I guess people don’t make cookies very much!  I may try to make some of my favorite recipe, if I can find the ingredients, but given my difficulty making pancakes (I had to try three times with English ingredients before getting them about right) it could be a disaster.

So you can’t make an exception?

I did not know the word “busker” before I moved to England (and indeed it does not appear in my spell-check dictionary) but apparently it’s a street performer.  In any case, I was in the underground station on the way home today and there was a man in a wheelchair playing a violin.  Wanting to give him something but having no change (only a £5 note) I went to the ticket counter and asked for some change.  “We don’t give change,” the man said, pushing back the note. “I want to give the busker some money,” I said, sliding it back again. “What?” Here’s the note again. Back and forth it goes.  “The performer, I want to give him some money.”  “Sorry.” "Why do you have a performer if I can’t give him change?” Nothing but a shrug.  I take my note and go, extremely disappointed.

On the subject of subway performers, I find it very strange that they do not vary them very much here.  At the station where I interchange on the way to work, the same Caribbean guitarist is playing every day.  Surely they would all benefit from a rotation?  I’m not likely to give money to the exact same performer playing the exact same songs every day!  Definitely not a zero-sum game.  On the way home, the station near my office does switch it up, which is nice.  On some days there is not a performer but there is a handicapped cleaning employee who is whistling very loudly.  While at first I wasn’t sure what to make of it, I eventually decided that it made me quite happy.  If this gentleman is unable to support himself and needs government money anyway, why not allow him to have a job?  He certainly seems happy and can feel like he is a productive member of society.  Meanwhile, he is probably quite helpful to the staff in the underground, and brings a bit of happiness to my life.  Seems like a win-win situation to me, as long as other people who do not receive government aid are not shut out of those jobs (e.g. these jobs are created as additional hiring out-of-budget).

You can’t be serious… driving edition

So, my driving license arrived this week and I finally have a permanent form of identification with my address on it, which is great for signing up for things like libraries (each borough has its own here), bank accounts, and just about any other form of subscription or membership.  Unfortunately, it’s a bit less useful on the driving side of things.
The rules about driving in the UK state that I can drive on my New York license for a year without having to get a UK license.  Within that year you can either exchange your existing license for a UK license, or get a provisional license which has restrictions, and then pass the written and road tests.  For those first twelve months the restrictions on your provisional license would not apply because your foreign license is still considered valid here.  So far, all well and good: you have a choice between sacrificing your foreign license or basically starting from scratch.  Clearly the better option is the former (since I could always just request a new US license by mail), but there is one snag: the UK licensing authority does not exchange US licenses.  However, they do recognize Hong Kong licenses, but I didn’t want to give mine up.  What to do?
In the end, I decided to get a provisional license, but upon receiving it I discovered that not only did I have to pay the one-time £50 licensing fee, but I also had to pay fees to take both tests.  Finding this to be really not worth the hassle, and thinking “when will I ever need it?” I decided to exchange my Hong Kong license.  Alas, after retrieving the form from the post office (I could not get it online) I discovered that in the exchange section after asking where your license is from, it asks where you took your test, if not in that country.  Grr, they got me!  I called them up, and sure enough the loophole didn’t work.  They explained that they didn’t have an agreement with the US authorities, and despite my argument that in fact I still had a Hong Kong license, they wouldn’t budge.  Mind you, I think that their argument is more about quid pro quo (none of the states I looked at will exchange anything but another US or Canadian license) than about actual legal requirements, since Hong Kong accepted my US license unilaterally.
So now I have a UK driving theory test scheduled for the 2nd of November.  I took an online practice one and failed (I wasn’t sure about some signs, road markings, and about whether train crossings here flash red or solid amber as a first warning – I guessed the latter because the former is the US way), though most of the questions were quite easy.  For example (and without much hyperbole): some elderly people are crossing the street when the light turns green, do you:

1. drive toward them and honk loudly
2. yell at them
3. run over them
4. wait patiently while they cross, understanding that elderly people take longer to do things

Presumably once I check out the road signs and markings I should be okay, though I am a little more concerned about the practical test – I need to get used to driving a manual transmission with my left hand.  Fortunately, I have £25 of zipcar credit that expires this month, so I’ll have to take a car to Ikea to practice (and get some artwork/photo frames for my room).
I’ve just arrived in Nottingham (of Robin Hood fame) for a recruiting event.  Besides wanting to meet people and enjoying it, I decided that I might as well get to see new cities and towns in England for free so I signed up to be a recruiter here (I helped out in New York too).  Should be fun!

Yum yum yum.

A good weekend this one!  Yesterday I joined my house-mate's rowing course mid-way (I had taken one in New York so was not behind) where I met an American of about my age who has moved back to London and is also a Third Culture Kid, which is nice (since I don't know many other non-Hong Kong TCKs).   After, I went to meet up with Katie, who was in town to see the opening night of Carmen at the Royal Opera House, and her friend Ale (Ali?  sorry!) who has just moved here (I had met her at Oxford).  We went to see the New York street fair in Soho, which had lame microwave personal pizzas and grocery store bagels (ick) but an awesome recreation of Central Perk from friends.  Sadly, it had an evilly long line.   After some delicious cookies at Covent Garden, we grabbed dinner with their opera companions at a little shop called Bite which had shockingly delicious ribs (both tangy and a little spicy!) as well as Coke floats, so I'm almost convinced it's American-owned (ribs, burgers, and coke floats?  c'mon...) 

After I went to see Insane in the Brain, a street dance version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which I actually found somewhat annoying, though everyone else thought it was amazing (which the dancing was).  The problem is that they didn't treat the topic seriously at all.  It's one thing to try to make it seem like perhaps we outwardly judge people with disabilities (e.g. we pity them when they should be treated like people) but it's completely different to have one of the characters constantly dropping her pants and saying (or gesturing) that she really needs to the bathroom.  I found that portrayal horribly offensive (I never find that stuff funny) but I think that with a few modifications it could have been a good re-thinking.  At one point, for example, she did a complete 80s dance, with leotard, leg warmers and everything, which was hysterical.  Again, if the idea was to show that perhaps we prejudge too much, fine, but why did you need that degrading humor at the beginning?  *sigh*.  Oh well, perhaps I'm too empathic about it.

Today, after pancakes and some laundry I went to see the Tate Modern, where I was shocked to run into an acquaintance from Cornell whom I had thought lived in New York, but in fact is now in London while on a consulting project in Europe.  Great!  He was with another American who had just moved here and was also keen on doing things and making friends, so it looks like I may be acquiring some American friends, though it's kind of strange that I haven't been meeting many English people (although my housemates are taking care of that).

After I got home, I got to sit down to a fantastic house dinner made by my housemate Amit.  We had a cheese plate, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed cheese (I don't remember what type) and bread for an appetizer, followed by fantastic home cooked mussels.  They were (no offense Zach and Jen) the best mussels I have ever had.  I definitely need to get the recipe (for that and the mushrooms).  Amazing!  My morning contribution of pancakes seems rather dull now.