[donb9006]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

I have no reason to believe that the Fed will not handle the retraction of "QE" properly. And I don't see any bubbles being created by market highs because industry just happens to be profitable. Market highs are well deserved in my opinion.

Really? No bubbles? How about in bonds? The fed is giving money to the banks to buy treasuries, keeping the interest rates low and prices high. How much? How about $45 billion a month. The fed is also buying up the "toxic", non performing mortgages the banks got stuck with when the government made them give out mortgages to inner city minorities. How much? Another $45 billion each and every month. And how does the Fed, a private gable of banks PAY for these things...credits on a computer screen. Our financial system is based on credit.

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

I will be watching, to see if the bubble burst. There's always money to be made, if one buys low and sells high. Nothing new under the sun.

You just can't time the market. IMHO

Maybe I read this wrong but the insurance companies, are driving the bus on the healthcare law. They lobby hard, to get what they want. IMHO

Not trying to be political.

So...if you can't time the market...how do you know when the highs and lows are? If you can't time the highs and lows, how do you know when to "buy low", and "sell high"?

That's what I've heard too...it's the medical insurance companies who want EVERYONE to be a policy holder. But you can't forget the extravagant salaries the medical "professionals" get either. Medicine, the field, simply costs too much. It's the cost that has to go down, it must be affordable.

Originally Posted by Villages PL

I'm not arguing that there's "no real free market" relative to health care. We still have "fee for service" providers. We have people getting cheaper drugs from Canada and people getting operations in foreign countries. And American drug companies do compete with each other, that's why some have done very well and some have failed. I'm not an expert on how hospitals operate but they charge "astronomical fees" to make up for all the poor who don't pay them anything. And, in that regard, hospitals charge more precisely because they are regulated.

My opening post simply makes the case that we are moving in the wrong direction, the direction of over regulation driven by higher rates of disease. I'm not making a case for zero regulation. It's likely that some basic regulation will always be needed.

Is it a "free market" when you have to introduce buying Canadian as a viable alternative to getting your medications? When you have to travel to a foreign country for an operation? Really?

Hospitals and good doctors charge "astronomical fees" because they can. No expense is too great when MY life is on the line...do it, whatever the best charges...pay it! 90% of medical costs are to keep the old and terminal alive a few more months.

Unfortunately, medicine is fully of greedy people. Greedy people in need of regulation. Look at China for an example of no regulation, no enforcement anyway... However, regulations shouldn't be politically driven, giving one an advantage over another.