Paul Krugman's case for a "mixed economy." 1/3 public plus 2/3 capitalist.

[pnwmom]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/22/opinion/the-case-for-a-mixed-economy.html

In other words, while Communism failed, there’s still a pretty good case for a mixed economy – and public ownership/control could be a significant, although not majority, component of that mix. My back of the envelope says that given what we know about economic performance, you could imagine running a fairly efficient economy that is only 2/3 capitalist, 1/3 publicly owned – i.e., sort-of-kind-of socialist.

I arrive at that number by looking at employment data. What we see right away is that even now, with all the privatization etc. that has taken place, government at various levels employs about 15 percent of the work force – roughly half in education, another big chunk in health care, and then a combination of public services and administration.

Looking at private sector employment, we find that another 15 percent of the work force is employed in education, health, and social assistance. Now, a large part of that employment is paid for by public money – think Medicare dollars spent at private hospitals. Much of the rest is paid for by private insurers, which exist in their current role only thanks to large tax subsidies and regulation.

And there’s no reason to think the private sector does these things better than the public. Private insurers don’t obviously provide a service that couldn’t be provided, probably more cheaply, by national health insurance. Private hospitals aren’t obviously either better or more efficient than public. For-profit education is actually a disaster area.

So you could imagine an economy in which the bulk of education, health, and social assistance currently in the private sector became public, with most people at least as well off as they are now.

SNIP

[violetpastille]

1. I love Paul Krugman.

I'd love to get high with Paul and talk with him about Gift Economy. I think that's where his heart wants to go.
And then I'd resubscribe to the NYT to read those columns.

http://gift-economy.com/

[uponit7771]

2. Been studying East German economy, there was some baby in that bath water