Moreover, the overall level of spending is likely to be large. That means that without (and even with) state-run healthcare systems, the rich will be able to afford more and better care than the poor.
To what extent do we accept a world where the non-rich die in situations in which the rich would live? To what extent do we hold on to our belief that when it comes to saving lives, medical care should be distributed on the basis of patients' needs, not their wealth? Where and how would we tax the resources to put real weight behind egalitarian principles?
Sharply rising healthcare costs will probably confront governments throughout the developed world with the biggest economic policy issues they will face over the next two generations. The Bush administration has yet to realize this, but other governments are not thinking hard enough, either.
At best, they are seeking ways to keep healthcare spending from rising, as though the genie of medical progress can be forced back into the bottle. Instead, governments should embrace the promise of wonderful innovations in healthcare, and ask how fast spending should rise, and how that rise should be financed.
J. Bradford DeLong is professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and was assistant US Treasury secretary during the Clinton presidency.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
RSS