agreed. in terms of public health the US is shabby, especially for what it spends. for individual medicine it's tips or near tips in many categories.

that's why the poor ol' US is disparaged at conferences about health systems, public health, epidemiology, and do so on, but features really prominently at conferences about novel products and procedures.

or, as Duffy would say, they're all brainwashed liberals.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

and why is it that some people always want to cite Venezuela but not Norway?

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Duffy wrote:

And I don't believe for one minute that you used to be a conservative.

Probably moderate Republican was a better label. Note that the Republican party used to be a lot more diverse than it is today. Before the Southern Strategy, Moral Majority, and Tea partiers you could be a moderate Republican. Now all of the moderates have been pushed out and the lunatics have taken over the asylum. As the GOP moved further to the right I moved further to the left so we parted ways.
Economically I consider myself a moderate. Capitalism is the most efficient system for the creation of wealth but the least efficient at distributing it. Communism is the most efficient at distributing wealth but the least efficient at producing it. The optimum system lies somewhere between these extremes. Most systems that actually work have a combination of competitive and cooperative elements. E.g. a competitive marketplace but with robust protections against fraud, deceptive advertising, price fixing and monopolies. In other words, capitalism with some rules to make sure everyone plays fair. I don't believe in regulation for the sake of regulation or deregulation for the sake of deregulation. I believe we need to find a balance where business is regulated enough to serve the common good as well as their own profits. My views on personal liberties are more Libertarian.