Our GDP would take a really bad hit if we stopped wasting 10+% of it overpaying for healthcare (a white-collar make-work jobs program—like, god, couldn't we just start up the CCC again? At least they built nice stuff that we're still enjoying... imagine what they could do with 10% or more of GDP!)

I suspect this, plus other ways the US reports sheer waste as GDP to a much higher degree than most peer states, is the main reason folks report the US feeling a lot poorer than second-tier EU countries that on-paper have far lower GDP/capita, even with PPP adjustments. But the fake-healthcare-GDP is probably the single biggest culprit, being absolutely enormous.

> folks report the US feeling a lot poorer than second-tier EU countries

How can they even tell that? Maybe people living in either place just have very different expectations.

The powers that be don't care at all about thousands of insurance adjusters losing their jobs. But they care very deeply about vaporizing hundreds of billions in shareholder equity.

Its democracu and small business self interesrlt.

You dont need a bogeyman to see how the system remains the same.

they’ll adjust