Chief Executive Magazine has released its annual list of best and worse states to do business, and Southern and Mountain-West states dominated the rankings to the detriment of the two coasts. The top five states in the survey, Texas; Florida; North Carolina; Tennessee and Indiana, are praised by the magazine for their governments' low-tax and lax-regulatory policies.
Policy experts complain that America has been slow to address its long-term economic problems – and unrealistic when such issues are actually discussed. But there has been even greater evasion and denial when it comes to the ethical dilemmas that will accompany those economic problems, especially where healthcare is concerned. Politicians talk as though relatively painless solutions can be found. But in reality there is no magical escape from difficult choices – they can only be dealt with by facing up to them squarely.
There’s a piece by a veterinarian in the current issue of Newsweek that makes the case for structuring the human health-care system more like the one we have for animals. That doesn’t sound like a completely ridiculous idea to me.
Two days ago I wrote a post about why I think price tags could save American health care. One of the great forces of the U.S. economy is the price-conscious consumer. Collectively we manage to drive down the cost of everything from bar soap to tax preparation. Such is the nature of a competitive marketplace [...]
A big part of the reason consumer goods are so cheap in the U.S. is because people always know what they’re paying. As a consequence, consumers can push prices lower by voting with their feet. If CVS tries to sell me a toothbrush for $4 when the one at Rite Aid goes for $3, I [...]
