Over at Swampland, Joe Klein has this on John Edwards' health care proposal. While not saying this or that about the proposal itself - I haven't read the whole thing, and much of the discussion has been about (gasp!) tax increases to pay for it. One thing Klein points out as a con against the plan is that it is continues the employer-based insurance system that has existed in the United States; by creating certain unfunded mandates for private employers, Klein argues that, in a global economy, this places a competetive burden upon US companies.
There is one problem with this analysis. In a global economy, US companies do business all over the world, and abide by tax and regulatory regimes that make our system look positively libertarian. Just consider the mandatory holiday time in Europe - four weeks mandated vacation in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium; six weeks in the Netherlands, Scandinavia, New Zealand (not Europe, I know, but you know what I mean). Tax policies in these countries, for all the current trend toward corporate friendliness are, in comparison to our own, almost confiscatory. Yet, hundreds of US-based companies do business and profitable business in these environments. So, rather than place such an onerous burden on employers, perhaps they should be taxed and provide universal health care - kind of like these other countries have.
Of course, in Klein's world, none of this exists. Or does it? I wonder if he even understands the realities companies face overseas. Or cares.
Virtual Tin Cup
