National Institute of Standards and Technology. It used to try to
work on how long a foot is but it will now be more actively involved
in serving the needs of private capital. Hundreds of corporations are
beating on their doors asking for grants.
The idea is to try to replace the somewhat declining Pentagon
system. With the end of the Cold War, it’s gotten harder to maintain
the Pentagon system, but you’ve got to keep the subsidy going to big
corporations. The public has to pay the research and development
costs.
The idea that a Japanese investigator could fail to see this is fairly
remarkable. It’s pretty well known in Japan.
Healthcare
I don’t suppose you can see the Boston skyline from your home in
Lexington. But if you could, what would be the two tallest buildings?
The John Hancock and the Prudential.
And they happen to be two types of what?
They’re going to be running our healthcare program if Clinton
has his way.
There’s a general consensus that the US healthcare system needs to
be reformed. How did that consensus evolve?
It evolved very simply. We have a relatively privatized
healthcare system. As a result, it’s geared towards high-tech
intervention rather than public health and prevention. It’s also
hopelessly inefficient and extremely bureaucratic, with huge
administrative expenses.
This has gotten just too costly for American business. In fact, a
bit to my surprise, Business Week, the main business journal, has
come out recently with several articles advocating a Canadian-style,
single-payer program. Under this system, healthcare is individual,
but the government is the insurer. Similar plans exist in every