Questions about the USA.

[onodera]

10. Why are lawyers and doctors so ridiculously expensive? Shouldn't they get busted for rpice fixing?

[Hauldren Collider]

Probably largely because it costs so much and is so difficult to be licensed for either.

[Dinner]

There in lays the truth. The certifications and controls allow them to control new market entries and thus inflate prices. That's both a good and a bad thing because it means when you go to either they're well trained but it also means the cost is higher. Additionally, secondary and post-secondary education in the US is very expensive, the government helps in the form of grants but especially in the way of student loans, that means you're average prospective doctor graduates with a crushing debt load and he needs to specialize in one of the high paying specialties in order to pay back that debt. That shifts US health care from generalists, who are relatively cheaper, to specialists, who are better at the specialty but generally more expensive. The argument is whither you really need so many specialists and if a well trained generalist couldn't do just as good a job for the vast majority of patients.

Either way it isn't salaries or fear of lawsuits or other such things which makes health care cost so much in the US; it's all the worthless and highly expensive middle men along with the fragmented market. There is a thread about this so I will avoid repeating it but it's worth reading the other thread and following the links because it details exactly where the inefficiencies lay according to the cost structure.

[Jon Miller]

Probably largely because it costs so much and is so difficult to be licensed for either.

This could be fixed in part by making our education system more subsidized. At least, that is how other nations do it.

JM

[onodera]

This could be fixed in part by making our education system more subsidized. At least, that is how other nations do it.

JM

Yeah, I was wondering why the Fed wouldn't provide subsidized education in return for subsidized services.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Because that would require higher taxes and Americans are ridiculous about that.

[regexcellent]

This could be fixed in part by making our education system more subsidized. At least, that is how other nations do it.

JM

That would just shift the cost onto people not using the service. In fact, if we got rid of our subsidies, i.e. student loans, I'd bet my dead dog's ass that prices would drop like a stone as colleges fight to keep students and come up with ways to cut costs.

Really what we need are options for cheaper licensing for certain medical and legal jobs that don't require as much education.

[Jon Miller]

I bet you are wrong. And it would be a good way to kill the competitive advantage that the US is already losing due to having a comparatively less educated workforce.

Some things are a lot more efficient when the market doesn't decide.

Evidence points to education and health care as being two of such things.

Another one is utility/electricity/etc.

JM

[Jon Miller]

I have a PhD in physics, there is no way I would have been able to attend college without governmental involvement.

I know many other highly intelligent (and educated) people, some who have not stayed in research and who are making a high salary/etc, who were in a similar 'boat'.

You would make the US worse than India, where the best and brightest still sometimes have to drop out of college to work a menial job to put food on the table.

JM

[Jon Miller]

On the other hand, student loans are a pretty stupid way to subsidize education. Just like every other method to do something which first gives money to the financiers.

JM

[onodera]

11. I know there aren't any federal laws that mandate a minimum yearly vacation length, but what about separate states?
12. What about maternity leave? How long does the paid part last? How long can it last altogether?

[Hauldren Collider]

This could be fixed in part by making our education system more subsidized. At least, that is how other nations do it.

JM

No...no no no. The correct answer is to reduce the licensing requirements.

[Hauldren Collider]

I bet you are wrong. And it would be a good way to kill the competitive advantage that the US is already losing due to having a comparatively less educated workforce.

Some things are a lot more efficient when the market doesn't decide.

Evidence points to education and health care as being two of such things.

Another one is utility/electricity/etc.

JM

Where the hell do you get the idea that our workforce is uneducated?

[Jon Miller]

Compared to other nations. We are currently 12th or 7th (depending on which numbers you look at). We use to be 1st. And it isn't just other countries doing better, we are doing worse.

My generation has a lower % of college graduates than the generation before me.

JM

[Jon Miller]

11. I know there aren't any federal laws that mandate a minimum yearly vacation length, but what about separate states?
12. What about maternity leave? How long does the paid part last? How long can it last altogether?

Maternity leave doesn't have to exist at all, it is a function of your work. I am not certain, but for most (non-state jobs), a couple months?

JM