"Walt" wrote in message
...
Maxprop wrote:
"Walt" wrote
Maxprop wrote:

They have 4.5 million folks--we have nearly 300 million. Quite a
different set of dynamics. And our population continues to increase,
especially in the demographics of the working and non-working poor. If
you can provide the recipe for a health care system that equals that of
Norway but provides for a population 65 times larger without bankrupting
the country and killing the economy, I'm all ears.

Sheesh. Ever heard the term "per capita"?

It's an interesting concept. You might want to check it out.

Sheesh. Ever heard of diseconomies of scale?

Yes I have. I'm also familiar with the concept of economy of scale.

Now, would you care to elaborate on why this is an example of the former
and not the latter?

Lots of demographic reasons, actually. One--the US has a larger percentage
of low- or no-income citizens than Norway. These people are consumers of
governmental gratis, not contributors. Two--the US is being stormed by
immigrants, both legal and illegal. That's nothing new, but the net effect
is a rapidly increasing non-indigenous population for whom some iteration of
health care and other governmental services will be required. Norway has
about 150k immigrants--all legal--per year. Three--our governmental
programs, such as SS, cannot be sustained at current levels of payouts vs.
revenues. This is somewhat a cardinal example of diseconomies of scale, but
also due to an increasing proportion of our population who have chosen not
to work and contribute to the FICA coffers (a misnomer, of course, as no
such coffers exist). Also contributory is the Baby Boom kids reaching
maturity. Four--ours is a culture of non-judgementalism and excessive
behavior. We have surrendered to the poltically correct concept of allowing
citizens to destory their lives with drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc. And we
won't exact the penalty of denying federal health care to such individuals.
To the contrary, we'll encourage it for those "poor, downtrodden victims of
life." Norway, by contrast, has a tiny fraction of such citizens.

I can go on, Walt, but hopefully that won't be necessary. Comparing the US
and Norway is ridiculous w/r/t economies of scale.


We agree on the scale part. What's not clear is whether the larger scale
makes it more or less economic. Simply stating that there are more
people to serve doesn't imply it's unworkable.

Population numbers tell only one facet of the story. The demographic makeup
of those numbers is what is relevant. Some Europeans describe the USA as a
cesspool of degenerate drug users and other throwaway citizens. Hyperbole,
to be sure, but not incorrect to a larger degree than most European
countries.


For example, McDonald's isn't exactly going broke just because they have
lots of customers.

And this is relevant why?

Max