Paul Krugman on health care: it's a social responsibility.

Mr. Krugman is professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University and op-ed columnist for The New York Times. He is called "the most important political columnist in America" by the Washington Monthly.

Ultimately this is a moral issue. Every other wealthy country has taken that risk of life off the table because it's something for which we can take social responsibility.

Go to www.pnhp.org and www.healthcare-now.org to get more info and take action!

Category:

News & Politics

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• single
• payer
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• health
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[dragonlancefire]

I will say this as a libertarian I rather spend my money on socialized healthcare than the Iraq War.

[CenterLeftLiberal]

Excellent argument!

[032125]

@jessemaurais Actually, GDP is a bullshit aggregate that is easily manipulated. PPR (Private Product Remaining ) is better, if you insist on vulgar aggregates to describe complex phenomena.

[032125]

The pyramids were also sold a social responsibility. Pharaoh said "hey people, other countries build fantastic crypts for their overlords, ergo you should too" and then all the happy slaves got right to work. Little known fact. Or maybe it was a jobs program. Or they were boosting aggregate demand for mud and straw. Yeah, that's it.

I dunno. I'm making this shit up as I go along, to morally justify slavery; much like Mr Krugman.

[jessemaurais]

@gunsnroses2020 Actually, GDP growth rate is back to it's 10 year average.

wolframalpha(.)com/input/?i=gd­p+united+states+from+2000

[gunsnroses2020]

@DrDon5 Well,I still believe healthcare is fundamentally a product like anything else on the market.It is in an exchange of services.The risks are much higher,so insurance is legitimate & necessary(you don't have to buy from the back of the ambulance,just as you don't buy fire insurance after your house is on fire).I feel the market is better at pricing products relative to quality.Buying the best bang for the buck is not the same as buying the cheapest.Anyway I guess we can agree to disagree :)

[DrDon5]

@gunsnroses2020 I agree that competition is helpful for bringing down costs and improving quality. However, health care is not a commodity like others. It is a matter of life and death. You can't shop for health care from the back of an ambulance, and you don't want the cheapest health care. You want the best, right now. The only way to deal with the risk is by pooling it via insurance. And the cheapest, most equitable insurance includes everyone. So public insurance, private care is the best.

[jessemaurais]

@jessemaurais I also became more well read in economics. I'm not an expert by any means, but I wanted to have a fairly general understanding of the topic. One of her opinions, which seems to be quite a popular one these days, is that money should either be gold or directly convertible to gold. But there is a good reason why most countries don't use a gold standard any more. Things like this lead me to believe she really didn't know economics that well. Word limit prohibits elaboration.

[jessemaurais]

@gunsnroses2020 Most of my problems with Ayn Rand began when I read the works of Kant and others whom she criticised in her own works. She grossly misrepresented the opinions of other philosophers. If anything, she owes a lot to them, and Kant in particular, because some of her arguments bear a striking resemblance to his. I'd go so far as to say it was plagiarism. If I still had her books on my shelf I'd grab the page numbers for you, but I got rid of them long ago.

[gunsnroses2020]

@DrDon5 Thanks a lot for your reply.I do believe we have never had a real free market system in healthcare America (The Swiss are closer to a free market than the US).In fact, it is one of the most regulated sectors of the economy.Most regulations cater to the benefit of Big-insurance,Big-pharma & Big-healthcare.Healthcare is a service (pay direct fees for a doctor's services or via insurance).Competition brings down costs in every other service & I believe it will be the same with healthcare.

[DrDon5]

@gunsnroses2020 Well taken. Letting the states decide is a good way to start to reform our broken health care system. There is plenty of evidence worldwide that publicly financed health insurance is the way to provide everyone access to quality health care at less cost. There is not a single example of a free market system that does so. But why not let the states decide. I'm with you.

[gunsnroses2020]

@DrDon5 You are wrong.Fire and police protection is locally funded,not federally mandated.If you are not satisfied with the way your community handles these services,there are thousand other counties you can move to.No such choice with single payer.You screw up,you screw it up for everyone.Why not let the states decide whether or not to implement single payer or totally kick the govt out of healthcare and unleash free enterprise? Then Americans can vote with their feet among 50 states.