The Private Sector and Public Needs

Health Care And Profits, A Poor Mix by Eduardo Porter.  Economic Scene.  The New York Times.  January 8, 2012.

The United States relies, accord to this opinion piece, more on the private sector to provide social services than almost every other advanced, industrial nation.  This reflects a more narrow understanding of the collective responsibility to provide social goods than other nations.  Porter believes that this  understanding is resulting in the delivery of public goods, including health of "lower quality, distributed more inequitably and at a higher cost than if government delivered or paid for them directly.  He provides evidence to support this view, including the fact that the U.S. spends 18 percent of the nation's output on health care and still leave tens of millions without adequate acces.