That's a long rant that doesn't even address the standard econ 101 argument. It's especially weird to quote spending data since that's what one would expect if the US was subsidizing the world.
It's also what one would expect if US consumers are getting horribly gouged on prices. But then I guess you'd also expect to see pharmaceutical companies enjoying super high profit levels... Oh wait...
EDIT: Given I am unable to address the 'econ101 argument', would you care to take a shot?
FWIW I do apologise for the sarcastic tone of my posts above. You're right; it's probably not the right way to spark a constructive discussion. To be honest, my tone was a fairly deliberate departure from how I usually post. It's just that I've been in a number of these 'US Healthcare' discussions on HN now and have seen the same points and counterpoints made many times, yet no progress seems to have been made.
I suppose that's a good indication that I should just stay out of these threads until I can maintain a civil tone.
EDIT: Given I am unable to address the 'econ101 argument', would you care to take a shot?