Both of them will be right
Today in the New York Times, two economists both acknowledge the inevitability of health reform in the United States and it’s potential shortfalls on the cost side of the equation. A close read suggests that their conclusions aren’t actually that far apart, but the tone and focus of each is in stark contrast.
Paul Krugman, house economist of the Times, has been a champion of universal healthcare, and his columns suggest that any step in this direction is a good one. He says of the current legislation: “This thing is going to work.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/opinion/26krugman.html
Tyler Cowen is an Econ professor at George Mason University, and a Libertarian. He says: “We’re often told that America should copy the health care institutions of Western Europe. Yet we’re failing to copy the single most important lesson from those systems - namely, to put cost control first. Instead, we’re putting our foot on the gas pedal and ratcheting up the fiscal pressures on the system, in the hope that someday, somehow, it will all work out.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/health/policy/25view.html?ref=business
