Cont. ..

But ... this is only one part of the "health" problem of the problems now facing the West (OECD countries).  There are other similar "ailments" in the economic and non economic areas now surfacing and affecting these countries.  What this implies is that you can only lie so much for so long to so many people in so many places.  Sooner or later, the lies and results and consequences of the lies will balloon up like an obstructed water hose, and blow up in your face.

Com munism was not wrong and Capitalism was not all right either.  A balance would be Socialism and Communism, without the excesses of the
financial sector or without a sleazy financial sector like Wall street, in place, would be the right road for long term improvement and sustainability.

In short, many things that the West taught has to be relooked at again.  If as LKY or Deng Xiaopeng said, if it doesn't work, either revise, or modify it, or discard it, and find a better model that works or has better long term potential.  There are no shortcuts, especially a scammous one which allows one or two or even three generations to live a lie with subsequent generations paying the price.


@s entinel

Cont. ..

Any argument that this would cause jobs to be lost is a false argument.  Economies are forever changing .. some industries become sunset, while others becomes sunrise industries.  Opportunities are created everyday. But more important is the need to ensure there is healthy and equitable circulation of money throughout the whole economy or more specifically, through the pockets of everyone.  The road wrongly taken by the West has caused a bloated, loss of " blood" (money) disproportionately diverted to one particular sector,  thus causing an "inflamation" in the economic body or overall health of the nation.  And thus has to be treated - surgical or otherwise.  Yes, the cure may be painful for the vested parties concerned but they should be the first to understand about pain-management, afterall they have been the first to be touting that as part of their sales drive and gross deference-to-conve nience-mode of treatment of their patients.

In other words, this entire hospital-medical-p harmaceutical-insura nce-government sector of the economy is, an apalling scam, almost.  It has become overly profit oriented as well as a costly fat-cat-preservation -of-jobs facade to the economy and the nation.  Capitalism, as reflected in this microcsm, is but a scam, a con-job, if not under controlled.  Individuals creating and telling a fairy to sell their goods and services ... at the expense of the nation.  It is a drain on the health of the country in terms of disproportionate money circulating.

Cont. ..

Kenneth Joseph Arrow is correct to say that a major part of the huge overheads carried by the governments of the US and Europe, are the medical costs.

Person ally, I think this economic concept of health based on medical care and cure, supported by pharmaceutical and insurance companies, is all wrong.  This parasitic and unholy alliance between the medical health professionals, pharmaceuticals, and financial service insurance industry, serves only to exacerbate an increasingly unequal society in terms of income distribution, as it continues, like a monstrous leech, sucking the blood (money) out from the host (the national economy or financial system) until the host is drained dry.  (Of course, the other huge parasite is the Military but that is a different story as it is non economic in the direct sense).

The Western economy has fumbled and found itself lost on the wrong road.  It had taken a wrong turning somewhere in the 60's.  First, the health care philosophy should be one based on preventative - like what the East has based its on and developed over several millenias - care rather than one based on curative.  The Eastern philosophy - "eat your way to health" - has never been truer today, and is now demonstrating to be a simple but effective lifestyle dicta. By doing this, health improves at minimal costs and current almost monopolistic or oligopolistic health care, pharmecutical,  insurance companies, government bureaucracy in relation to these industries, would immediately shrink in size.  And thereby unnecessarily costs to the country.  In such a scenario, more money would be released to other sectors of the economy like water being released from a dam.

The health and pharmaceutical industry should be a small specialized R & D based curative-focussed service runned by the government with an equal budget to encourage healthy eating.  Thus, this healthy industry will never be a huge drain on the economy - private-sector-wise or public sector-wise.

cont. ... below
 

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KA says medical costs take up 80% of national income...

Wik i tells me that 22% of 2011 US federal budget is medical, 19% is guns and bombs.

I think Mr Arrow fails to realize that we don't take these people seriously.  None of them even know what they are protesting and are just looking to past the time instead of making a real contribution to the economy.  They wave a fist at industry with an iPhone in the other hand!  These people expect a hand out?  They are too lazy to better themselves and go to college for something other than a basket weaving degree and think they are too good for manual labor.  So they suck the government tet and then complain they aren't getting enough?  Really?  Even if they had a good point, nobody takes them seriously!