An old-time socialist cliche in favor of socialized medicine is that private companies profit from people’s sickness, which is supposed to be unconscionable. Actually the best way to meet people’s needs is through a system that permits profitability as a sign of success and efficiency, just as it makes sense that farmers should profit from people’s hunger or builders should profit from people’s need for shelter etc.
There seems to be a consensus that some sort of “reform” is needed for the American health care system. I keep hearing people say “at least Obama is trying to do something,” as if good intentions really solve problems. Many people have been asking about the Austrian perspective on the problems with American health care.
Mario Rizzo has an interesting take on Robert Lucas’ recent essay on prediction of business cycles.
Lucas’ post is quite an odd defense of the mainstream economics gurus who were caught flat-footed. Here are some good excerpts:
Interesting how 6400 videos of political clips can be pulled–by force of law–by youtube and people stand around grumbling but essentially granting the rights of youtube to pull the material and the rights of C-Span and others to insist that it be pulled.
[Composed for the occasion of Ludwig von Mises’s 90th birthday.]
For those who feel compelled to document progress in our times, here is a point to add. The music played when you are on hold for tech support has generally improved in recent years. It’s not perfect by a long stretch but it is getting there.
For those too young to remember the bad old days, I have one word for you: trumpets. It was a cool jazz with trumpet doing the melody line, and then it would be followed by a spontaneous improvisation, which is fine the first time around.
Travel with me back to yesteryear, the early days of the Reagan administration, when taxes were being cut and spending increases were being curbed (actual spending cuts were few), and when journalists were losing their heads about the supposedly catastrophic state of the economy.
