Tapsearch Com EditorYglesias on health care
April 16th 2007 03:46
I've never read Matthew Yglesias regularly, but I guess it's high time to start. I love this point about government involvement in health care:
Being a regular D.C.-New York commuter (heading up to visit my girlfriend this coming weekend, in fact), I particularly like the inter-city transit thing. Also, I think Yglesias is unusual for a liberal because he has a keen sense of tradeoffs. It doesn't matter whether X amount of health care is "worth" Y government dollars; what matters is whether the best thing to do with Y dollars is to spend it on X health care. Even restricting the options to improving health, it's a great point that health care might not be the best investment.
By Robert VerBruggen
Meanwhile, the range of alternative[s]...that would do far more than health care to make people healthier is huge. Better inter-city trains and regional mass transit would mean less driving, which would be a huge life saver. It would also lead to somewhat more walking, which would be good for people. You could subsidize fresh produce, or gym memberships, or build more public pools and better parks to get people to adopt healthier lifestyles. Lead paint abatement. Virtually anything is a potentially more effective means of improving health outcomes than is health care...I basically stole this idea from Philip Longman...
Being a regular D.C.-New York commuter (heading up to visit my girlfriend this coming weekend, in fact), I particularly like the inter-city transit thing. Also, I think Yglesias is unusual for a liberal because he has a keen sense of tradeoffs. It doesn't matter whether X amount of health care is "worth" Y government dollars; what matters is whether the best thing to do with Y dollars is to spend it on X health care. Even restricting the options to improving health, it's a great point that health care might not be the best investment.
By Robert VerBruggen
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