More on health care

Greg Mankiw is a bit more temperate than I was yesterday and puts more emphasis on philosophy. I don't think this is really about philosophy for most people. I think it is about leadership and responsibility. My point yesterday is that one could have universal coverage without busting the bank and with less in the way of negative efficiency effects than the bill we are getting. To get to such a bill would have required real leadership in the form of telling the public the truth instead of lies and fantasies, accepting less generous coverage more consistent with fiscal reality and good government and being honest about (and passing at the same time) some combination of tax increases and cuts in other things, such as Medicare Part D. I think the a solid majority of the public would have supported such a package and it would thus have had the additional virtue of not being as polarizing.

David Warsh compares the health care bill to the creation of the Fed. I do not see this at all. The bill we got is a tax and spend bill, not an evidence and efficiency bill.