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Originally Posted by tankdriver
I don't understand this blind faith in the god of free market. The market doesn't fix things. It it just a means of profit pursuit. The Wall streeters you rant about were free to operate the way they did, so they did it. That's free market. You can call it fraud, but the derivative swap et al. was completely legal and they were free to do it.
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No, what the Wall Streeters did was fraud. Our government abdicated its responsibility for reigning in this kind of abuse. This is a legitimate form of government control; protecting its citizens from activities that deprive them of their money unjustly. They were only free to engage in their fraud because government did NOT do what it should have. Instead, our government tries to do all sorts of things it is not meant for, like providing services for people that should be provided for privately, such as health care.
The free market system is the only thing that works with human nature. Every other system tries to ignore or subvert it in some way. That will never happen, ever.
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However, the cost of health care insurance is pushing it into the Rolls Royce realm with lots of people being unable to afford health insurance.
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It's being pushed there because so many free market mechanisms that would bring down cost and bring up quality have been removed from the system due to government programs like Medicare/Medicaid, as well as the market distortions introduced by widespread use of health insurance to cover conditions that should be taken care of by the local doctor (I'm talking about people going to the ER for a cold because they have an insurance card). That's kind of like using a comprehensive auto policy to cover every parking lot scratch and wondering why your premiums increase or you are eventually dropped completely.