The Weeds: Can the government trick you into losing weight?

You've probably heard about some big Obamacare programs, like the massive expansion of insurance or a mandate to buy coverage.

And there are other policy programs in the law that on their own would seem quite big. But because they were rolled into a 2,000-page law called Obamacare, they didn't make a huge splash.

In this week's episode of our podcast, The Weeds, we shine the spotlight on one of those policies: the requirement that all chain restaurants post calorie labels on their menus. The regulation has been the subject of a fierce lobbying battle, causing multiple delays and huge turmoil for the popcorn industry (really).

The goal of calorie labels is make nutritional information more available, thus reducing the amount of food Americans consume. But so far, the research on their effectiveness is relatively sparse, raising questions about whether the labels should exist in the first place.

Also on this week's episode: Ezra Klein breaks down one of the biggest ideological differences between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Matt Yglesias schools us all with his deep knowledge of Nordic economies, and I get really excited about an NBER working paper. Like, really excited. Happy listening below — or subscribe to listen to us on iTunes here.

Menu labeling

• Calorie Posting in Chain Restaurants (the Starbucks study)
• Calorie menu labeling on quick-service restaurant menus: an updated systematic review of the literature
• Why have Americans become more obese? (David Cutler study on snacking)
• The Decline in Big Soda, Margot Sanger-Katz
• Chipotle's calorie labels are a lie
• Surprisingly simple tips from 20 experts on how to lose weight and keep it off

Clinton, Sanders, and big business

• Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton’s debate over capitalism, explained
• One sentence that explains how Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton differ
• 9 questions about Denmark, Bernie Sanders’s favorite socialist utopia
• Hillary Clinton's plan to tame big banks shows her at her wonkish best
• Economic plan is a quandary for Clinton campaign

Will high deductibles make us sicker?

• This study is forcing economists to rethink high-deductible health insurance
• Uncertainty and welfare economics in medical care (Kenneth Arrow paper)
• Patients' perceptions of medical care in the United States

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