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In 2010, for the first time, since the WSJ and the Heritage Foundation began this exercise in 1995, the US fell from the ranks of economically free to " mostly free". The 2010 ranking covered the period of July, 2008- June, 2009. The fall crossed two administrations and was triggered by the U.S. Government becoming a stakeholder in " too big to fail" and TARP.
The 2015 ranking is for the period of July, 2013- June, 2014. The authors note that the U.S. decline has been arrested. They conclude further work will need to be done:
Unwind government intervention
Reduce tax rates
Spend less and devolve responsibilities
Give workers a raise.
It will be interesting to see the 2016 rankings for the period of July, 2014- June, 2015, given our involvement and bombing in the Middle East and granting $ billions to Jordan, let alone what's to come over the next 3 months.
Be aware Paul Ryan is up to his eyeballs in this. The same Paul Ryan thant pitched replacing Medicare with vouchers and when your vouchers run out, it sucks to be you. AARP has their pitch forks sharpened and ready.
All good initiatives except for the "workers raise". AARP is a biased tool of the democrat party, I don't give much credence to anything they are for.
Singapore spends 3% of its GDP on healthcare whereas the U.S. spends about 18%.
The Singapore Government owns and operates 85% of hospitals. They control the policies, costs and fees for service. They maintain MD compiled Comparitive- Effectiveness protocols. Such protocols were a part of the original ACA legislation and were deemed " death panels" by conservatives and was eliminated.
There is a disconnect between cost and fees with Sinapore Government filling the gap with subsidies. Singapore mandates everyone maintain a healthcare savings plan. Most corporate employers provide supplimental insurance as a benefit.
The Singapore Government addresses the root cause and puts tremendous emphasis on a healthy diet and exercise and the population is no where as near vulnerable to Diabetes, Heart Disease and some Cancers. In contrast, 70% of US adults are overweight/ obese. In contrast, Michelle Obama is damned for encouraging nutritious eating, weight control and exercise.
Most of the hospitals/ medical centers in Hong Kong are public and the government picks up the tab for the majority. Private insurance enables people to chose providers and hospitals and shorter wait times. Again, tremendeous emphasis is placed on personal responsibility for weight control and healthy lifestyles.
New Zealand, another top tier economic freedom country owns/ operates most hospitals. The government picks up the tab for hospitalization and major medical treatment across the board.
Singapore's healthcare is not bad, but it is way overloaded and the bed crunch is terrible.
You wouldn't like that. They work to balance budgets and their center-left party doesn't hate corporations.
Sounds like a good deal to me, they also think that those corporations can afford to pay a much higher minimum wage as well. And of course, let's not forget universal healthcare and affordable college for every citizen.
Let's stop the corporate welfare. Giving big oil subsidies doesn't work. Let's quit buying friends and getting involved in countries we have no business being in. ( thanks Bush)
Singapore does not stick their noses into the business of other countries.
Singapore does not maintain hundreds of military bases all over the world.
Singapore does not buy friends with foreign military aid.
Singapore is as big as a nostril, they simply can't stick their noses into the business of other countries and maintain hundreds of military bases or provide military aid.
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Singapore is the 5 or 6th most expensive city/ country.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
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Originally Posted by Stizzel
Both those countries have universal healthcare and free/low cost college tuition. The minimum wage for Australia is 16 an hour.
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You can say free till the cows come home but saying something is "free" don't make it so. Not to mention Australia (the way I understand it anyway) is BIG on vocational education when it comes to higher education. Each applicant is evaluated for their skills and aptitude. Want to be a plumber? To bad... your skills match those of a garbage collector, so off to Garbage 101 you go...
What's amazing is that so many people here in the States go on and on about how wonderful things are in other places believing that everything is sunshine and rainbows there. One of my best friends lives in Canada and it cracks me up to hear folks here talk about their WONDERFUL health care system. She's not quite as enamored with it. It's FAR from perfect and trying to do anything like that here in the States is impossible, not to mention the old adage....."Things aren't always greener on the other side....be careful what you ask for, you just might get it."
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And of course, let's not forget universal healthcare and affordable college for every citizen.
You can say free till the cows come home but saying something is "free" don't make it so. Not to mention Australia (the way I understand it anyway) is BIG on vocational education when it comes to higher education. Each applicant is evaluated for their skills and aptitude. Want to be a plumber? To bad... your skills match those of a garbage collector, so off to Garbage 101 you go... 
