There is No Such Thing...

I was blessed to be under the tutelage of Mr. Charlie Brown at SFA.  Yes, THE Charlie Brown taught my intermediate Economics class.  God rest his soul.

Of all the things he taught me about supply and demand and resource allocation, I really remember two things about economics that have shaped who I am as a consumer and a voter:

1.  Basic economics assumes there is competition by many supplier and consumers.

Without this model in place, you have a monopoly.  You just need to visit the turn of the last century to see what monopolies look like;  they limit choice and freedom.

When you use the theory of many suppliers/consumers, allocation of resources is efficient.  Those who can afford the given resource buy it at a price that is set by the market, not by an artificial law or government.

There is no case where with only a single supplier or a small handful (~ 3 or less) that consumers get the best of anything (customer service, pricing, etc)

2.  There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Now, my children will argue this as a fallicy because they have had plenty of "free" lunches courtesy of their Mom and Dad.  HOWEVER, we quickly correct this mistake by asking WHY they are receiving a lunch, to which they are forced to reply that WE HAD TO PAY FOR IT FOR THEM.

In other words, someone behind the scenes is always paying.

So, to the issue of health care in America, I would say the following:
1.  This is quickly becoming, at best, an oligopoly (or, potentially, very worst case scenario, a monopoly), limiting the number of players in the market to very small numbers.  This kills competition, which limits choice, limits freedom, and creates backlogs.

If you don't believe me, take any government run program (Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, the IRS) and look at the inefficiencies.

When competition is taken out of the equation, you get crap because you cease to have a free market run on the basic economic principle of competition by many suppliers.

2.  Before anyone gets all excited about their healthcare being covered, remember that someone has to pay for it. 

Who do you think that will be?

All of us.  This generation and the next and ten after them.  Poor, rich, in between.  Every.single.one.of.us.

And, if you are sitting in a "higher" tax bracket thinking this will help the "lower" tax brackets, the joke is on you.  They'll be paying too.  They will be paying a percentage just like you will be.  Yes, they will be taxed for their healthcare;  they will pay for the privilege.  WE ALL WILL.

Economics works.  It has since the 1700's.
It doesn't play "fair", it just observes what makes a good society work well.

Yet, as a country, the loudest voices appear to want the government to take away our economic freedom in the interest of what we selfishly get "for free".  Or to "equalize" the system.  Or to do what is "fair".  

Yet trying to equalize the gaps in life out of "fairness" kills competition and hurts us all, from the ultra-poor to the mega-wealthy.

Where did we lose sight of the fact that our constitution didn't guarantee life would be fair in America?  The charge is to form a "more perfect union", not one that IS perfect (which doesn't exist).  The charge is to "secure...the Blessing of Liberty", not tamp it down with laws meant to equalize that which is not ever going to be equal.

Now, I could go off on other spending issues as well.  Let's face it:  our country has painted itself into a corner with huge social programs in the past that are currently biting us in the pocketbook.  But, rejoicing over the addition of another huge debt grind to our already troubled economy is simply backward.

If we don't have the money to pay for a large insurance blanket, we can't implement said blanket.  Period. Because, in economics, there is no such thing as a free lunch! 

We can continue ignoring basic economics.  We can continue spending like we can print more money and not face massive inflation issues.

But, eventually, and I think eventually means in the next 5-10 years if we don't right the ship, our society is going to be on the slippery slope that Europe currently is trying to curtail:  in debtor's prison, wondering how we got where we sit.