Interesting story on “migration.”

Regarding David’s column this weekend on public employee retiree health care issues—good points, but why not take it a step further and tie this issue to the broader public policy issue of universal health care in our beloved country? Medicare, Medicaid, and the hodge-podge of public/private health plans all cry out for a broad-based solution, such as single-payer or some of the plans currently being advocated for by some of the presidential candidates.

Also, kudos to Mary Jo and her partners in this weekend’s stories about health-care. Well-done, balanced, fair, and good attribution of sources. I was especially happy to see the American Enterprise Institute characterized as a “conservative” think tank instead of that oxymoron labelling (e.g., “free-market”) we usually get when the media quotes the far right wing on public policy issues. When the super-rich refer to their ideas as “free-market” I always think about an ironic description of freedom–the rich and poor are equally free to sleep under bridges! And also, don’t forget Naomi Klein’s description of “think tanks”: composed of hacks paid to think by the makers of tanks! Wake up, America!

In response to #1 — a person doesn’t need to be “far right” in order to recognize the POTENTIAL of “free markets” (i.e., people freely exchanging goods and services) to maximize the output of an economy in a way that benefits most people both as producers and consumers.

That “potential” is certainly further maximized by APPROPRIATE government expenditures, such as for public works, national defense, and lw enforcement to name a few. And, of course, those services require taxes, and if one believes — as I do — that the wealthiest people have not only the ability, but also a moral obligation to pay the bulk of those taxes, that approach tends to even out much of the inequality of wealth that results from operation of a totally laissez-faire free market.

Anybody who wants proof that a free market system combined with very progressive taxes makes for a prosperous, low crime, healthy society, should look at any of the Scandinavian countries.

Of lesser importance — I wouldn’t trust United Van Lines data as a true indicator of national migration patterns, since it is quite possible that people leaving Missouri or some other state where United markets most heavily are more likely to use United than people moving to Missouri from elsewhere. As a practical implication of this, I can’t imagine West Virginia being high on the list of states with in-migration. Even Missouri, the “Billboard State,” is paradise compared to West Virginia.