Dear Marion, 
The day has gone by with writing the letter to you this morning,
with the receipt of 180.8 gal of fuel oil for $612.91,
with a trip ferrying Benjamin and Leah to the Senior Center,
respectively to play trumpet and French horn in today's rehearsal,
with an office visit from a ninety year old man who has been my
patient for more than 26 years, and then with another two hours
at the Secior Center listening to Nathaniel and his friends
rehearsing Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, Beethoven's 4th Symphony,
and finally, as their planned encore, the Lone Ranger Overture -
to Rossini's William Tell. I was impressed by the contrast
between Nathaniel's subordinate role as a Yale sophomore and his
elegant virtuosity leading his volunteer orchestra in very
creditable performances of technically difficult works.

While waiting for the music to begin and at other odd moments,
I reflected on what economists call, rather awkwardly I think, 
moral hazard; not, mind you, any one elses moral hazard, but
only my own. The income tax discourages me from earning money.
Disability insurance, whether purchased by my employer or by
myself, is an incentive to not to regain my health but to stay
in bed.  Unemployment compensation diminishes my motivation to
find work.  Health insurance is encourages me to seek medical
services which I do not need or which are of only marginal value.
Liability insurance makes it less necessary for me to be careful,
be it in practicing medicine or in driving a car. "Home owner's"
insurance tends to relieve me of worry about turning off the
stove and about locking the door, and life insurance might just 
tip the balance in favor of voluntary departure from this earth 
when for other reasons also I considered it a propitious moment 
to depart. I readily agree that the conduct of others may be more
rational; their doings may be less affected, if at all, by 
insurance or by governmental subsidies. Nonetheless, my own poor
character shakes my confidence in being able to prescribe remedies
for the discontents of our society.

Those were other considerations which your letters brought to my
mind. Admittedly my thoughts may be so foolish that I should keep
them to myself.

Jochen