Bill,
I hope I won't offend when I note that the ongoing dust up over the timing of recovery from financial recessions has left me more skeptical than ever that economists policy ideas can be separated from the political philosophies they espouse. The endless tag team wrestling match between Krugman, Delong et al on one side and Taylor, Mankiw and Hubbard on the other may entertain but it doesn't edify. Much of the time it feels like a bunch of little smart assed schoolboys trying to out insult each other.
With regard to our ongoing healthcare disagreement, there is no need to apologize. We don't agree about a lot of things. It's part of what keeps this ongoing conservation from becoming dull.
There's a lot to criticize about Obamacare. Your prediction that it will do little or nothing to curb costs may turn out to be correct. We both agree that the present course is unsustainable. That said, any alternative system of healthcare distribution should have some basis in previous experience or experiment before it's unleashed upon the American people. Or at least, it should provide enough of a fail safe so that if it turns out to be an unmitigated disaster harm can be limited and correction can be made quickly. And it must, as a matter of simple morality, include access at some basic level for all. Lasik and plastic surgery can be left for those wealthy enough to want them to pay for them out of pocket.
Eli
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