Earn What You Spend

There were too many good articles to post only to Twitter.

The WSJ examines why renting is the new American dream.  I agree.  Homeownership, while certainly a nice thing, is not necessarily better than renting, and there is not a strong case for promoting one method of consuming shelter over the other.  Especially after having seen the disastrous effects of too many mortgages we simply cannot afford.

This article in the Times outlines why I think the notion of rationing obscures an underlying reality: what a single payer system like National Health Service in Britain does is guarantee a basic form of coverage for everyone.  But if you don’t want to have your health care ‘rationed’ or be subject to wait times for medical services, you don’t have to: you can purchase supplemental private insurance or simply pay out of pocket.  One exchange with a health care provider went like this:

Told my husband needed a sophisticated blood test from a particular doctor, I telephoned her office, only to be told there was a four-month wait.

“But I’m a private patient,” I said.

“Then we can see you tomorrow,” the secretary said.

So while this system would “ration” health care for those who are only covered by such a system, if you want better coverage, you can simply pay for it.  It’s the same underlying principle as what we have in education: the government provides a basic level of service.  If it is not up to your standards, there are plenty of private schools that would gladly admit you.

Barack Obama then makes his case for health care reform, outlining four key reforms the bill would address.

And lastly, an article by the CEO of Hulu, who is an alumnus of my alma mater.  His reasoning was exactly what mine was when I was deciding on where to go to college: “When I applied to college, both education and investment value were important to me. I applied to the best public schools in the country and enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”

[Updated]

Three more articles on health care I’ve been reading, and are certainly worth one’s time:

Brad Delong’s Utopian fix for health care.

An excellent article in Atlantic Monthly, which contains a proposal that I’m very impressed with.

And lastly, Milton Friedman’s solution for health care.