Comments on: Health Care Reform – Some thoughts

By: John@American Design

John@American Design — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:53:58 +0000

Since the 1930s, U.S. banks were the flagships of American economic might, and emulation by other nations of the fiercely free-market financial system in the United States was expected and encouraged. But the market turmoil that is draining the nation’s wealth and has upended Wall Street now threatens to put the banks at the heart of the U.S. financial system at least partly in the hands of the government.

The government’s about-face goes beyond the banking industry. It is reasserting itself in the lives of citizens in ways that were unthinkable in the era of market-knows-best thinking. With the recent takeovers of major lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the bailout of AIG, the U.S. government is now effectively responsible for providing home mortgages and life insurance to tens of millions of Americans. Many economists are asking whether it remains a free market if the government is so deeply enmeshed in the financial system.

By: kaiser

kaiser — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:17:45 +0000

You made some very interesting points in your post, but where do we find the middle-ground solution? What is the guarantee that corporate monopolies wouldn’t exit in a anarcho-capitalist free market as well? What keeps predatory capitalism in check? Consumers are often their own worst enemy, and predatory agencies know this and exploit it, with the credit card industry one of the perfect examples.

Even without a corporate-government monopoly, what is to stop an all-consuming capitalism that gobbles up its competitors?

Also, when we talk about socialism, we probably want to make a distinction between state socialism, with the bureaucracies you mentioned, and libertarian socialistic models, which emphasizes decentralized hierarchies.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:29:52 +0000

Obama says that the penalty for not getting health insurance is not considered a tax. Sorry but if it looks like a tax and smells like a tax, and is paid to the IRS …THEN IT IS A TAX.

In my opinion I am not to pleased with how this reform is going. Why vote down the 72 hour waiting period that gives the American people enough time to see what is in this bill? It is because Nancy Pelosi and most Democrats have a lot to hide!
.-= Jeremy´s last blog ..Public Insurance Option Choices Being Developed =-.

By: Tim@Health care jobs

Tim@Health care jobs — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:28:36 +0000

Forcing people to comply is basically a tax. Running a small business is hard enough in these times, adding one more financial hurdle to them is a big mistake.

By: annabelt @ Ebusiness Technology

annabelt @ Ebusiness Technology — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:27:24 +0000

As a non-American, it doesn’t make sense to me that businesses should have to provide their employees with health insurance – surely it is much fairer and more efficient to have a single payer system? Plus it takes that load off businesses completely. Americans seem to have a major distrust of their government though.
I thought the health insurance reform was at least partly an attempt to bring the costs down – hope so.
.-= annabelt @ Ebusiness Technology´s last blog ..Back to your Desks, Peasants! =-.