The New Commanding Heights

Arnold Kling

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Nick Schulz and I talk about the implications of an economy in which health and education are the key growth sectors.

Looking to the coming decades, it will simply not be possible to maintain a genuine free market -- or a thriving, innovative, growing economy -- if our education and health sectors are controlled by the government. Champions of the market thus have their work cut out for them. First and foremost, however, they must come to understand the central place that education and health care occupy in America's economic life.

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Latest Comment

Lord writes:

A bit backwards. We will not be able to have a free market or a thriving, innovative, growing economy unless these sectors are controlled by government. They will devour everything.

Posted June 27, 2011 6:37 PM

BZ writes:

I apologize for wasting your eye-space here, but something just doesn't jibe with me, and I hope I'm just misinterpreting. The article appeared to be saying that education and healthcare are as important factors of production as manufacturing, power generation, etc.

I just can't see it that way. Granted I'm just one guy, but I haven't spent a dime on either health care or education in over 15 years (and yes, I'm counting insurance payments as my proxy-dimes).

I'll grant that governments have paid handily to increase employment in those two sectors, but had the feds and states subsidized and controlled "ditch digging and filling" industries, wouldn't we see large employment gains there without making the leap that "ditch digging and filling" is our new commanding heights?

- BZ

Posted June 27, 2011 9:32 PM

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