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This is a blog of liberal stance and independent mind

Thursday 25 February 2010

Health Of The Nation

Today, a “health care summit” is taking place in Washington DC, specifically in Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue. Here, Barack Obama is hosting both Democrat and Republican Senators in an effort to bring some kind of agreement on what has proved to be a difficult and divisive subject.

Should we in the UK be concerned? I would say that we should. The USA is the world’s de facto sole “superpower”, and will be a significant player for the foreseeable future, whatever the growth rate in China and India. And for such a player to be spending almost twice what the UK does on health, and for generally worse outcomes, potentially blunts that country’s economic edge, especially given the tendency of health care costs to rise over time.

The proceedings are being carried live here. I’ll have another look at the exercise after letting the dust settle.

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