Why Infrastructure Is So Expensive
The first part of the article talks about Healthcare with this:
&quot;Which is why, on the healthcare island, the conversation is about costs. Your preferences don&#x27;t matter, except where they are aligned with the objectives of those on the island. Substitution doesn&#x27;t matter; there are no competing services. Obscene profit margins don&#x27;t invite competitors; they invite consolidation. Justifying costs to third party payers, instead of prices to patrons, is the name of the game. It&#x27;s a bizarre world that doesn&#x27;t make any sense to people like Goldhill when they take a critical look at it.&quot;<p>I haven&#x27;t read the book, but it looks to me they&#x27;re making the age-old argument that &#x27;third parties&#x27; shouldn&#x27;t pay for healthcare because thats why its screwed up now. But, this is far too simplistic to be true. Healthcare is not a product, its a service. That service changes depending upon the person. Its not mass-producable or competable down because of demand in many cases. And, even if it were a product, you still have the eternal problem that people cannot negotiate for their own healthcare. You can&#x27;t. You physically need it, and may die without it, and there is no process by which to negotiate or even many times know what price you will be paying. That is what universal healthcare strives to solve in other countries, and does so decently.