The US healthcare system is capitalist? Lol.
To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process. Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!" Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."
I dunno, by questioning the meaningfulness of every single thing on that chart, including the characterisation of a system as "capitalist" or "socialist"? It's so vague as to be worthless.
Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...
Figuring out actual percentage of GDP is nearly impossible because countries with socialized medicine often list medical expenses under some other category. And what about private healthcare typically available too?
If I hear not allowed much oftener; said Sam, I'm going to get angry.
J.R.R.Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Jon Irenicus:I dunno, by questioning the meaningfulness of every single thing on that chart, including the characterisation of a system as "capitalist" or "socialist"? It's so vague as to be worthless.
Exactly. Besides, it's obvious that healthcare is the only factor related to the life expectancy which is obviously wrong. What about life style, nutrition and genetic predispositions?
Natalie: Jon Irenicus:I dunno, by questioning the meaningfulness of every single thing on that chart, including the characterisation of a system as "capitalist" or "socialist"? It's so vague as to be worthless. Exactly. Besides, it's obvious that healthcare is the only factor related to the life expectancy which is obviously wrong. What about life style, nutrition and genetic predispositions?
Shhhh!!! Why must you bust their bubble? Lol.
First, I disagree with all of these statistics and certainly the health care system in the US is NOT capitalist. Health care funding the US is a mix that is trending more towards socialist each passing minute. As for the other numbers, obviously countries lie. The more socialist the country the more the lies. The ultimate liars were the Soviets.
As for life expectancy, John Stossel debunked this on TV when he found studies of people of Swedish and other Northern European ancestry in cold US climates living longer and healthier than those in Sweden. Assume this is not true.
There are several other things that may drive the 4 to 6 extra percent of GDP. The most significant are 1. The the development of new drugs, devices and procedures and 2 the existence of a liability system to compensate victims of malpractice and 3. There is a GIANT socialist system of government grants that fund this research backed up with a long and bureaucratic approval process. So in these countries, malpractice victims are normally out of luck, these countries need to only sit by and wait for the US to develop and test a drug, device or procedure and assume it is fine and they do not have stupidly huge system of providing Fascist development where the gains are private and the losses are public. If we eliminate patents and the granting then we would make this process much more streamlined.
But I will assume the numbers are completely true, I will even make the stupid assumption that the US health care system is capitalist (We all wish) then: Americans should celebrate the higher expenditures for health care as a plus. That is that American demand more health care and receive it than in these other countries. So we know that the semi-mostly-socialist system in the US is at least attempting to satisfy the very real demand for health care and health care services. Keep in mind that in neighbor to the north of the US there are lots of folks wanting immediate care who come to the US to get it.
There's also statistics that show that patients in many countries have to wait far longer for even common tests and procedures than in the US.