> There is reason to suspect that high U.S. costs are part of a deeper problem. Maybe this is mere cynicism, but if the workers and materials don't cost that m

> There is reason to suspect that high U.S. costs are part of a deeper problem. Maybe this is mere cynicism, but if the workers and materials don't cost that much more than in France, my immediate reaction is "excessive profiteering", or, to put it another way, "because we can, and nobody is stopping us". The same applies to our unreasonably high education costs, and healthcare (although that's much more complex an issue, but at its root, it is too many fingers in the pie).