Monday, June 22, 2009

The Top & Bottom of the Health Care Debate

As usual, Milton Friedman provided a clear, easy to understand explanation of what appears to be a complex economic problem. You can read the whole article here.

Why is health care any different from other goods and services? Why do lots of folks think everyone has a "right" to health care, but almost no one thinks everyone has a right to most other goods and services? I think the answer to that question is that we are simply unwilling to look into the eyes of someone suffering from disease or injury and ignore them. In other words, it's not health care that's different; it's the way we think and feel about people.

Lots of folks will be expending lots of ink over the next several months about health care in America. I recommend that we all read the brightest and best economic thinker of the 20th Century if we really want to understand the issues involved. Given the graying of America, I can't think of any other single issue that is going to be more important to understand. Read it here.