Which firms profit most from America’s health-care system (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: Which firms profit most from America’s health-care system (2018)

#161

Post by dominotw » Sun, Jul 05, 2020, 11:23 PM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #146

dominotw wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> price-subsidies on non-sugary foods. That makes a big assumption that people aren't buying more spinach because of price of spinach. beans and rice are already super cheap. Much healthier and cheaper option than mcdonalds.

> beans and rice are already super cheap. Much healthier and cheaper option than mcdonalds. Why are you slyly shifting from "sugar" to "mcdonalds"? Minus drinks and desserts, McDonalds' offerings are not high in sugar. > That makes a big assumption that people aren't buying more spinach because of price of spinach. The price per calorie of spinach is extremely high. Micronutrients are great and all, but you can't liv…

> Why are you slyly shifting from "sugar" to "mcdonalds"? Minus drinks and desserts, McDonalds' offerings are not high in sugar.

Aren't carbohydrates sugar though?

Why is the distinction between sugar in drinks and sugar is burger buns relevant to the discussion.

> Micronutrients are great and all, but you can't live off micronutrients alone.

Why did you slyly ignore 'beans and rice' in my comment. I wasn't suggesting people get their calories from spinach, what a weird interpretation.

my mexican family of 5 ate this combo every single day ,growing up. spinach + rice+ beans and occasional meat was afforable on one gardner's salary.

Re: Which firms profit most from America’s health-care system (2018)

#162

Post by jacobush » Mon, Jul 06, 2020, 2:20 PM UTC

dominotw wrote: post #161

ebg13 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> beans and rice are already super cheap. Much healthier and cheaper option than mcdonalds. Why are you slyly shifting from "sugar" to "mcdonalds"? Minus drinks and desserts, McDonalds' offerings are not high in sugar. > That makes a big assumption that people aren't buying more spinach because of price of spinach. The price per calorie of spinach is extremely high. Micronutrients are great and all, but you can't liv…

> Why are you slyly shifting from "sugar" to "mcdonalds"? Minus drinks and desserts, McDonalds' offerings are not high in sugar. Aren't carbohydrates sugar though? Why is the distinction between sugar in drinks and sugar is burger buns relevant to the discussion. > Micronutrients are great and all, but you can't live off micronutrients alone. Why did you slyly ignore 'beans and rice' in my comment. I wasn't suggestin…

I think a multipronged approach is needed. Many families in the food deserts lost the know how to cook properly. But it’s very unfortunate that the most subsidised crop is corn. If beans were, I am sure it would be perverted too somehow but maybe not as bad.

My general point is that the incentives today are all wrong. Many things need to be fixed and subsidies of corn syrup is one egregious thing.

Re: Which firms profit most from America’s health-care system (2018)

#163

Post by grecy » Mon, Jul 06, 2020, 4:58 PM UTC

dan-robertson wrote: post #63

grecy wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> American consumers spend more on just about everything than most other rich countries Do you have a source for that? In my experience living and working in a slew of countries around the world, the USA has the cheapest alcohol, cigarettes, cars, electricity, clothing, electronics, gas (and diesel), food at the supermarket, food at the restaurant and many other things of any developed country. Because taxes are so l…

I’m not saying things are more expensive but that the total spent is more. What do you think Americans do with their relatively higher incomes? Evidence would suggest that for the most part they aren’t just putting the difference straight into their savings accounts.

They're spending it on healthcare, and education for starters.

But mostly they're buying the stuff I talked about above. Consumerism.

Re: Which firms profit most from America’s health-care system (2018)

#164

Post by rgblambda » Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 11:25 AM UTC

adjkant wrote: post #125

rgblambda wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Initially U.S cities were built according to a grid plan (grids being the most efficient means of urban planning at the time). This also made public transport easier. Grids however do not work well for cars. In response to increasing car ownership, T junctions were introduced to improve flow of traffic. The car also made it possible for people to live far from their place of work, thus the popularisation of suburbs.…

> Other countries followed suit. What other countries? The US is very much an outlier. The only one I can think of is maybe Australia?

The UK and Republic of Ireland.