The New York Times recently published an op-ed by Paul Krugman on McCain’s healthcare plan. Krugman, an economics professor at Princeton University, describes what he sees as the ‘voodoo’ economics of healthcare:
“…the foolish claim, refuted by all available evidence, that the magic of the marketplace can produce cheap health care for everyone.”
The alternative, of course, is that the government can provide cheap health care for everyone.Which of these two claims has really been refuted by all available evidence?
Capitalism Magazine has just published an article on the same issue.Richard Ralston discusses the current state of the British National Health Service, a universally available, free healthcare plan that should make Krugman swoon.Except that the plan is failing.The article discusses the burgeoning ‘medical tourist industry,’ as patients flee to third world countries to obtain timely care, and the British government’s attempt to integrate more market forces into their system.
The articles present a disturbing picture of America’s desire for socialized medicine, set against the backdrop of the failure of socialized medicine abroad. The irony, apparently, is lost on the New York Times.