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Honestly, I think that it'd be a lot better for American entrepreneurs for the US to learn from the European model. Small businesses will benefit enormously fro

Honestly, I think that it'd be a lot better for American entrepreneurs for the US to learn from the European model. Small businesses will benefit enormously from universal healthcare, for example. More vacation wouldn't hurt either. I'm going to go out on a limb and assert that productivity is probably maximized, per hour, at 9-10 weeks' vacation, and in gross, at 4-5. It makes sense for the most ambitious 1% to work 50+ hour weeks, during the highest-energy decade of their life... but it doesn't make sense for everyone to be working that much.

etal 18y ago
Lately it's been bothering me more that we're expected to get our health care plans through our employers. The proportion of Americans who hold traditional full-time, salaried positions at medium-to-large companies is far from 100%. A health care plan is something everyone needs; a job is something much more flexible that we do to earn (notably inconsistent amounts of) money. Moving toward either socialized medicine or the libertarian/free-market model would be better for entrepreneurship -- relying on a paternalistic employer for access to essential services isn't even a local optimum.
jbjohns 18y ago
Universal health care I'm not so sold on, but the possible options aren't just (1) universal health care and (2) the incredibly awful system the U.S. has. I'm an American living in Switzerland, for example, and here it is simply the law that you must have insurance. And since the government is guaranteeing income for insurance companies there are controls on how much money the insurance companies are allowed to make (from time to time they even have to send checks to their customers because they made to much money!). Since their profits are capped there is no incentive for shady practices like telling every person who claims "no" knowing full well that around 50% wont know enough to push it further as you see done in the US, South Africa, etc.

etal 18y ago

Lately it's been bothering me more that we're expected to get our health care plans through our employers. The proportion of Americans who hold traditional full-time, salaried positions at medium-to-large companies is far from 100%. A health care plan is something everyone needs; a job is something much more flexible that we do to earn (notably inconsistent amounts of) money. Moving toward either socialized medicine or the libertarian/free-market model would be better for entrepreneurship -- relying on a paternalistic employer for access to essential services isn't even a local optimum.

jbjohns 18y ago

Universal health care I'm not so sold on, but the possible options aren't just (1) universal health care and (2) the incredibly awful system the U.S. has. I'm an American living in Switzerland, for example, and here it is simply the law that you must have insurance. And since the government is guaranteeing income for insurance companies there are controls on how much money the insurance companies are allowed to make (from time to time they even have to send checks to their customers because they made to much money!). Since their profits are capped there is no incentive for shady practices like telling every person who claims "no" knowing full well that around 50% wont know enough to push it further as you see done in the US, South Africa, etc.