Shortages of PPE and ventilators not to mention beds and staff are what happens when you run a society based on the market principles of efficiency, competition and profit. Unemployment caused by staff layoffs are efficient. But only for the firm. Are these unemployment numbers a clear measure of inefficiency in a society embedded in a market economy? What if the market were embedded in society?
The response to this virus but also the climate crisis — thought by some to be on pause — is all affected by our faith in markets. Thoughts and prayers to either god or the market will not help.
We must rethink our core beliefs starting with money. It is clear now that money should only be a means to measure how well we are doing in creating a society where life and the quality of life matters more than the widely-accepted market principles of profits which are made ever greater by efficiency and competition.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.So Canadas famous wait times for non-life threatening medical procedures, are not an example of what happens when a medical system is run on principals of "efficiency, competition, and profit"? So what are they then? Maybe the limits to how goods and services are allocated, is more complex than market principles.
MarkiusMahamius
Level 7
Apr 2, 2020
0
Right on. America has bought into Ronald Reagan’s “Government isn’t the solution, it’s the problem” propaganda. We’ve handed off our healthcare system to the marketplace, as if we can choose a health insurer like we choose to buy a new car, a used car, or not to buy a car at all. Healthcare is not a commodity: In a wealthy society, it is a human right.
Bobbyzen
Level 8
Apr 2, 2020
1
@dave1459 I take it you believe we should keep our current system intact. What do you say to the for-profit hospital system that keeps inventory in PPEs low because it costs more to have emergency stock on hand? What do you say to the families of the 68,000 people who die every year because they have no health insurance? What do you say to the 80 million Americans who are uninsured or underinsured, don’t qualify for Medicaid because they earn too much ($6,800 annual income is the threshold in Kansas, for example) and cannot afford any healthcare? What do you say To the 10’s if thousands of families whose savings were wiped out the bills from by one medical emergency? These are only some examples of the human toll of a for-profit health care system? Please respond to these people, here.
How I agree. Markets are short term. Governments and societies have to think long term. Businesses should also plan long term, but are constrained by the market's constant insistence on immediate profits.
Petter
Level 9
Apr 2, 2020
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