January 11, 2010

Economist Smackdown!

Nobel laureate Paul Krugman says:

As health care reform nears the finish line, there is much wailing and rending of garments among conservatives. And I’m not just talking about the tea partiers. Even calmer conservatives have been issuing dire warnings that Obamacare will turn America into a European-style social democracy. And everyone knows that Europe has lost all its economic dynamism.

Strange to say, however, what everyone knows isn’t true.


Harvard Professor N. Gregory Mankiw says:
Here is GDP per capita, adjusted for differences in price levels (PPP), from the IMF, for the United States and the most populous countries in Western Europe:


United States47,440
United Kingdom 36,358
Germany35,539
France34,205
Italy30,631
Spain30,589

Readers of today's column by Paul Krugman might find these figures useful to keep in mind.

Ow! That's gotta hurt!

Economics and Markets Posted by John Kranz at January 11, 2010 11:43 AM

Yeah, those numbers impress me. So what could Americans do with that extra $11,000 of GDP per capita (if the government didn't tax it all away?) Maybe they could buy their own health insurance. And if insurers could compete across state lines and doctors could practice without fear of insanely frivolous lawsuits, maybe buy a new bedroom set, a new wardrobe or finance a new car with what's left AFTER paying for your own health insurance.

Or, we could just let the government spend that money and much, much more on the health insurance THEY think we should have.

(P.S. I'm not preaching to the choir any more - Silence is back!) :)

Posted by: johngalt at January 11, 2010 3:03 PM

Yeah, but I am at least in the pews on this one. I am all for allowing national health insurers. When you think about how many companies have offices and workers in many states it just doesn't make sense any more. Ditto for reform of malpractice rules.

I will add however that I do not see doctors as pure white hats in all this either. The AMA has staunchly fought any attempt to inject scientific testing into medical procedures. Your doctor is just right, no sense anyone attempting to prove the efficacy of his treatment. Here is where I think the health insurers could lead, it would actually be in their financial interest to fund studies to determine the most effective treatments.

Posted by: Silence Dogood at January 13, 2010 10:59 PM | What do you think? [2]