tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post3341987146637277230..comments2024-03-22T06:05:36.544-04:00Comments on Kids Prefer Cheese: A Guest Blog: Best and Worst World EconomiesMungowitzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340064320347875601noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-8910304757640415292011-05-23T03:16:34.206-04:002011-05-23T03:16:34.206-04:00I must say I'm thrilled with this article.I must say I'm thrilled with this article.Small Businesshttp://www.smallbusinessbible.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-58432879131418073052011-05-22T13:55:26.985-04:002011-05-22T13:55:26.985-04:00Similarly, Although the U.S. has the most expensiv...<i>Similarly, Although the U.S. has the most expensive health care in the world, the World Health Organization ranks it 37th for effectiveness...</i><br /><br />No it doesn't. The rankings you're thinking of aren't based on effectiveness. They're based largely on how well a health care system conforms to the authors' left-wing ideals. For example, 25% of the score is how "fair" the financing is--i.e., how much of a subsidy low-income households get.<br /><br />Glen Whitman has a good write-up of the problems with the rankings <a href="http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/2007/07/whos-healthcare-rankings-part-1.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. Part 2 explains the scoring.<br /><br />Also, the editor-in-chief of that report is <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1001849?query=TOC&" rel="nofollow">on record</a> as stating that the rankings are <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(03)13408-3/fulltext" rel="nofollow">spurious</a> and that people should stop citing them.Brandon Berghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490308321355825389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7464708.post-67085856474408461972011-05-22T09:28:13.894-04:002011-05-22T09:28:13.894-04:00"Economies thrive when a country has somethin..."Economies thrive when a country has something to sell..." So much wrongness in just nine words. Is "economy" an attribute of "country"? It might be, if your country has strong border controls, but it surely does not have to be and is better when not. The nine words seem to suggest causality: cross border trade causes thriving. This is then quickly denied; also Cuba has great cigars. More personally, the U.S. sells great software to the world yet Cleveland still stagnates.<br /><br />"Once a country identifies its resources..." WTF? A country, not being a sentient entity is going have a lot of trouble identifying. I guess he means the political rulers have to know the market. They don't. They can provide means of settling disputes and for pursuing thieves. They can try not to waste too many resources on their Grand Schemes. And they DON'T have to build ports with "public money". They might have to empower the builders.<br /><br />Thriving is not a collectivist activity.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08574355302581451838noreply@blogger.com