The Ticking U.S. Debt Bomb
Ep. 252 w/ show notes
Ravi sits down with Dylan Matthews, senior correspondent and lead writer at Vox, to unpack the complexities of the national debt and deficit in the United States. They explore the historical context of the country's debt, the mechanisms of government borrowing, and the evolving political landscape around fiscal responsibility. Ravi and Dylan discuss how Americans experience the deficit on a day-to-day basis, including the true cost of healthcare spending, before turning to the key forces that drive fiscal policy, from immigration and demographic shifts to defense spending. Finally, as the U.S. edges closer to unprecedented levels of debt, they consider the solutions policymakers may propose to stabilize the economy.
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Time Stamps:
[01:03] Springfield, Ohio
[08:31] The Ticking U.S. Debt Bomb
Springfield, Ohio
Violent threats surge in Springfield, Ohio, after Trump, Vance false claims (CBS News, 9/16/24)
'Simply not true' that Haitian migrants are eating pets in Ohio: Gov. DeWine (ABC News, 9/15/24)
Why Thousands of Haitians Have Settled in Springfield, Ohio (The New York Times, 9/14/24)
The Ticking U.S. Debt Bomb
The US government has to start paying for things again (Vox, 8/16/24)
The 1% Steps Project
The History of Presidential Debates: Part One (Lost Debate, 9/5/24)
Ozempic’s Promise, SC Primary, Black Swing Voters (Lost Debate, 2/1/24)
America’s Sick Healthcare System with Bethany McLean (Lost Debate, 12/7/23)
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@Ravi - RE insurance companies not caring about long term healthcare costs, why not *make* them responsible for those costs in some form or another?
For instance, perhaps we could make them liable for, say, 10% of a customer's future Medicare costs (just to pick an arbitrary number). It's not the majority, it's not a crushing burden, but if I'm on the hook for some portion of a bunch of expensive obesity treatments down the road, then I'm going to spend at least a FEW bucks trying to make sure my 30-year-old customer gets in shape TODAY and stays in shape.
Moreover, we could copy this principle across the entire industry. Maybe the actual curve looks like "10% co-responsibility for 5 years after you lose the customer, 5% for the next 10, 2% for the next 20, 1% after that". Maybe we tie it to specific preventative health measures that they reject -- you wouldn't be on the hook for someone who gets in a car accident the year after they leave your plan, but if you denied them coverage for a knee surgery and then they ended up needing a more complicated surgery the next year, you'd have to pay.
Anyways, I'm just saying, there's all kinds of ways we could make the industry more responsible for their patients' long-term health besides browbeating them and nationalizing healthcare.