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Very good point because in my country elder care is free. Daily visits by an assistant is on the municipality. We're not a leader in GDP, but we take care of ou

Very good point because in my country elder care is free. Daily visits by an assistant is on the municipality. We're not a leader in GDP, but we take care of our citizens, whether they be sick or old.

gregshap 2y ago
Municipality spending is part of GDP
- sofixa 2y ago
  But without the profit motive and the need to turn a profit for a few layers of middlemen, the impact on GDP will be much smaller than in the US. There's a reason why healthcare expenditure per capita in the US is multiple times higher than any other OECD country, and why health insurance companies are some of the biggest public ones.
tsimionescu 2y ago
That is not the point GP was making. The assistant you mention is still paid by the municipality, so they show up in GDP numbers just as much as if you paid them yourself. What doesn't show up in GDP numbers are cultures where people take their elderly relatives into their own homes and care for them themselves. Same as hiring someone to look after your kids, or taking them to day care, shows up in GDP; while having their grandparents or other family care for the kids while you're off to work does not.
- INTPenis 2y ago
  I can't believe you're actually arguing these semantics when one person has to pay 800 dollars for an assistant and the other person gets it for free. One person's elderly parents never have to worry about being assisted, while the other can only do so if they can afford it. And you're arguing GDP semantics? There is something seriously wrong and sick with this.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    Quit the grandstanding, this conversation is about the GDP and what does or doesn't count towards it. There's nothing wrong with somebody just be cause they kept track of that context instead of getting lost on a tangent.
  - jprete 2y ago
    GDP semantics matter enormously for policy decisions because GDP is the easiest metric to use when making those decisions. But it's a metric and highly biased towards measurable values instead of less fungible ones.
- svnt 2y ago
  Except the municipality is not run for a profit, and can benefit from economies of scale, so the difference in GDP contribution for the same event could be an order of magnitude lower.

gregshap 2y ago

Municipality spending is part of GDP

sofixa 2y ago
But without the profit motive and the need to turn a profit for a few layers of middlemen, the impact on GDP will be much smaller than in the US. There's a reason why healthcare expenditure per capita in the US is multiple times higher than any other OECD country, and why health insurance companies are some of the biggest public ones.

tsimionescu 2y ago

That is not the point GP was making. The assistant you mention is still paid by the municipality, so they show up in GDP numbers just as much as if you paid them yourself. What doesn't show up in GDP numbers are cultures where people take their elderly relatives into their own homes and care for them themselves. Same as hiring someone to look after your kids, or taking them to day care, shows up in GDP; while having their grandparents or other family care for the kids while you're off to work does not.

INTPenis 2y ago
I can't believe you're actually arguing these semantics when one person has to pay 800 dollars for an assistant and the other person gets it for free. One person's elderly parents never have to worry about being assisted, while the other can only do so if they can afford it. And you're arguing GDP semantics? There is something seriously wrong and sick with this.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  Quit the grandstanding, this conversation is about the GDP and what does or doesn't count towards it. There's nothing wrong with somebody just be cause they kept track of that context instead of getting lost on a tangent.
- jprete 2y ago
  GDP semantics matter enormously for policy decisions because GDP is the easiest metric to use when making those decisions. But it's a metric and highly biased towards measurable values instead of less fungible ones.
svnt 2y ago
Except the municipality is not run for a profit, and can benefit from economies of scale, so the difference in GDP contribution for the same event could be an order of magnitude lower.