I am less interested in the quantitative analysis, but the qualitative analysis. Why, culturally, has the US shot itself in the foot in this way?
> And I think part of the answer is that in most cases, individuals and families themselves must allocate resources they control to make this happen.
Assuming uniquely American selfishness got us in this mess, I don't buy that rugged individualism is the route out. You'll just get that classic pattern of those with enough resources to manage criticizing the resource management of those with too few resources to learn to manage. That just further corrodes solidarity.
> Assuming uniquely American selfishness got us in this mess, I don't buy that rugged individualism is the route out. You'll just get that classic pattern of those with enough resources to manage criticizing the resource management of those with too few resources to learn to manage. That just further corrodes solidarity.
I chose my words carefully so as not to imply "rugged individualism" was the solution. I mean I even explicitly invoked "families" as an institution greater than the individual. And I used the word "control" rather than "earned" or something.
Weirdly, "rugged individualism" is kind of why American healthcare is so bad: we tie it to employment for those under age 65. Before the ACA, this was simply because healthcare is exempt from income tax; with the ACA, it's literally mandated. In order to get health insurance, you need to pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get a job OR pull yourself up by the bootstraps and pay extremely high premiums.
Disentangling healthcare from employment and allowing for other institutions like churches or schools to play a part in helping fund it would do a lot. And for the truly catastrophic conditions like cancer, we should just have a universal policy that kicks in.
The unfortunate answer is that the US seems to be very bad at fighting regulatory corruption which allows small parts of the market to buy laws which give them a moat. Rinse and repeat over the last half century and you get to the situation we're in.
> And I think part of the answer is that in most cases, individuals and families themselves must allocate resources they control to make this happen.
Assuming uniquely American selfishness got us in this mess, I don't buy that rugged individualism is the route out. You'll just get that classic pattern of those with enough resources to manage criticizing the resource management of those with too few resources to learn to manage. That just further corrodes solidarity.