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I had not read this before and that's a valid point, thanks for sharing. I think I would say two things to this. First, theoretically we could attack the probl

I had not read this before and that's a valid point, thanks for sharing. I think I would say two things to this. First, theoretically we could attack the problem from both sides. We could constrain supply in the way that med school prevents an oversupply of physicians while also increasing the total amount of resources available to those practicing science. More practically, I tend to believe that basic and translational science is a huge boon to global prosperity and also an economic engine for the United States. Ergo, if we run into the same problem down the road again, just keep raising the budget and make more positions. We have a long way to go before we exhaust the benefits of additional research, and the money we spend on research is a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on other less useful ventures.

fjsolwmv 9y ago
Med school limits are a way for doctors to seize wealth from patients. The industry is reacting to their greed my moving work to nurses and PAs.
discoursism 9y ago
The supply constraints med schools impose most certainly are not to prevent "oversupply" of doctors. Depending on who you ask, there are two main reasons they exist. One view is that there's a finite amount of doctors willing to work at academic hospitals, and thus there's a limited amount of new medical students that can be adequately trained. Another view is that medical schools collude to form a guild to better separate the American populace from their money, by ensuring that doctors are always scarce relative to the demand for their services. This allows doctors to demand a dramatically higher compensation for their efforts than in other countries, despite being no better here than elsewhere.
- crimsonalucard 9y ago
  In a normal economy the only thing regulating supply, is demand. The kind of organization that imposes supply constraints to sarcastically prevent "oversupply" are called cartels. You know, like a drug cartel?
  - TeMPOraL 9y ago
    True to the definition of the word, but you have a wrong example. "Drug cartels" are anything but, and the only actual cartel in the drug trade is the United States government.
- posterboy 9y ago
  To be fair, it's a doctors declared goal, to reduce the need for themselves. From a system stand point, down regulation in moderately quiet times promotes people to be well healthy by their own. It's symmetric if its not just doctors monotonically maximizing their income, but also patients and doctors competing with each other and one another for prosperity. So the doctors who earn most, should in principle dampen their own optimal payout.

fjsolwmv 9y ago

Med school limits are a way for doctors to seize wealth from patients. The industry is reacting to their greed my moving work to nurses and PAs.

discoursism 9y ago

The supply constraints med schools impose most certainly are not to prevent "oversupply" of doctors. Depending on who you ask, there are two main reasons they exist. One view is that there's a finite amount of doctors willing to work at academic hospitals, and thus there's a limited amount of new medical students that can be adequately trained. Another view is that medical schools collude to form a guild to better separate the American populace from their money, by ensuring that doctors are always scarce relative to the demand for their services. This allows doctors to demand a dramatically higher compensation for their efforts than in other countries, despite being no better here than elsewhere.

crimsonalucard 9y ago
In a normal economy the only thing regulating supply, is demand. The kind of organization that imposes supply constraints to sarcastically prevent "oversupply" are called cartels. You know, like a drug cartel?
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  True to the definition of the word, but you have a wrong example. "Drug cartels" are anything but, and the only actual cartel in the drug trade is the United States government.
posterboy 9y ago
To be fair, it's a doctors declared goal, to reduce the need for themselves. From a system stand point, down regulation in moderately quiet times promotes people to be well healthy by their own. It's symmetric if its not just doctors monotonically maximizing their income, but also patients and doctors competing with each other and one another for prosperity. So the doctors who earn most, should in principle dampen their own optimal payout.