Friedman in the News

I came across this article that was concerning the new healthcare bill/debate. Warren Buffett said that "out of control health care costs are like a tapeworm limiting growth in an economy trying to recover from a financial crisis". Health care eats up 17% of the gross domestic product at a time when other countries are at nine or 10% gross domestic product and they have more nurses and doctors and hospitals per capita.

Buffett would rather have the Senate bill on health care than the current bill. He would also want to see a bill that would really attack the costs of health care. Rising costs are holding the economy back.

This article caught my attention because we mentioned health care in class. Friedman is all about having a free market economy. The government shouldn't have that big of a role in a lot of issues such as health care. For Friedman, health care should be privatized. The market/economy should be able to work itself out, and that goes for health care. Government should be an umpire and only enforce the rules. This would rule out coercion. If I read this right, Obama wanted a health care bill that would have a public option that would compete against private health insurance. Friedman would definitely be against this, I believe.
Buffett: Health care "tapeworm" drags on economy