jdude, that post is a total non sequitur. The best health care systems in Europe are also found in those countries that are relatively stable economically; France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc. Of course, the current economic crisis is global, and so all countries face instability. But let's not downplay the achievements of universal health care over the last 30-50 years.

hosertohoosier, I mean universal health care in the sense that a society agrees that health care is a right that everyone can claim when they need to. How it is provided obviously differs enormously between countries. As for innovation in medicine, most of this, even in the United States, occurs at universities (albeit with a lot of private funding, I'll admit) and so I'm unsure why in Canada we should wish for the current inefficiencies of the US system to be preserved because of some supposed side-benefit of its creative capacity. Indeed, if the US could reduce its health care spending from 15% of GDP to under 10%, as many western European nations enjoy, perhaps it would free up money for more, not less, medical innovation.

It's very odd when the free market model is held up as a pre-requisite for innovation, as if innovation doesn't exist outside free market capitalism -- a view that is totally at odds with all evidence from history.

I can't quite understand this decision. At the very least, there should be a moratorium until the safety of all the off-water rigs has been assured. If any concerns -- like the dozens plaguing Deepwater Horizon -- come to light, then this will give the oil companies the onus to rectify them.

It's quite a different industry, but as soon as one Concorde aircraft had an accident, all the rest were grounded.