This article is about 2 months old, but interesting nonetheless. Germany has been enacting austerity measures (spending cuts) all through the financial crisis. While the other EU nations have gone the US route of massive deficits and printing money, Germany's economy has been robust. See http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/21/us-pmi-services-eurozone-idUSBRE91K0DU20130221. So Germany is doubling down on what's working. The flagging Progressive Socialst economies are flagging. So what they're ultimately going to need is to TAKE 10% of Germany's GDP to mitigate the suffering. See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...8285503854758408.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop. http://www.cnbc.com/id/100353656/Germany_Plans_More_Austerity_Measures_Report Germany plans further spending cuts worth up to 6 billion euros ($7.9 billion)in order to achieve its target of a structurally balanced budget in 2014, a newspaper said on Friday, quoting finance ministry sources. Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition, which faces an election in the autumn, has championed the cause of budget discipline to overcome the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis and aims to balance its own books next year, two years earlier than a previous target.
Ireland has been on an austerity based program for a whole now. The financial crisis hit them harder than most other nations. They suffered the pain early and are reaping the benefits, much like Germany is. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2013/0223/1224330416244.html EU revises economic forecast for euro zone downward Ireland was one of the best performers according to the outlook, with Mr Rehn noting it had outperformed most other euro zone economies.
The American strategy seems to be, "if at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking until you do succeed."
Hitler was a socialist. He invaded countries, robbed their treasuries, and spent it all and always needed more.
Speaking of healthcare have you read the new Time magazine. Very interesting. http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
I don't think that tells the whole story. For starters, it's the law that the hospitals have to treat you in emergencies. This clearly wasn't an emergency. It's stupid, IMO, to go to a hospital if you can get the care you need elsewhere. Like a clinic. The head of the hospital making $1.8M is not particularly well paid. A really good plastic surgeon might make more than that doing boob jobs. "Profit" in bookkeeping doesn't mean that there was any positive cash flow at all. As for the price of aspirins? On the surface it seems like gauging. Starbucks charges $2.50 for a cup of coffee. That seems like gauging, too. On the other hand, they have to pay people to clean, sit around waiting for customers to show, manage the place, rent, etc. In addition to all that, the hospital doesn't always get close to what it bills. The insurance companies might pay $.50 on the dollar, so they jack up the prices 2x to get paid what they really need. The patient in this case really needed to shop around or negotiate with the hospital, IMO. After the fact, they might be able to get the hospital to refund half or more of what they charged. I do think they overcharge. I don't think it's criminal, though. On the other hand, this is interesting: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...medicaid-patients-florida-medical-association
