[weavejester]

The idea that private industry is always more efficient than the public sector is, at best, an over simplification. One need look no further than healthcare to find an example where the public sector is vastly more efficient than a market of competing, private sector companies.

The state also spends money on things that would not be funded any other way. Pure-scientific research, such as CERN. Policing for people too poor to hire private security services. The idea that these things are "the opposite of value" is ludicrous.

Also, if you're not going to tax Google and Amazon, then that gives large international companies who can dodge tax a huge advantage over smaller national companies who cannot. That undermines the underlying principle of capitalism: competition. Either you tax no companies, or all of them - any halfway position is worse than either.

[patrickaljord]

Public health-care is a complete failure here in France. We actually pay more than Switzerland where it's privatize and the French assurance maladie is going completely bankrupt while being forced on us. Many pure scientific research have been done by private entities, I don't see why only public programs could do any pure scientific research. Plus, if the people were given their money back , maybe they could use it to invest in stuff they actually care about such as pure scientific research which only represent like 1 or 2% of our national budget today.

As for policing, I don't think anyone disagrees that it should remain public. Justice and Police and Military security are what the state exists for. Not for subsidizing movie producers or a dying paper media industry like we do here in France. I'm ok with a low flat tax that everyone would pay to sustain the basic functions of the state. It would probably be cheaper for Google and Amazon compared to whatever they're paying their accountants to design their tax schemes and give them huge gain in time wasted for bureaucracy.

[weavejester]

WHO ranks the French health care system as the best in the world, and the expenditure per capita is less than Switzerland (at least in 2007), so I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers from.

I also suspect you'd have a hard time finding private companies willing to spend $9 billion on a particle accelerator with no foreseeable profits.

I'm generally against subsidising any industry, but letting Google and Amazon get away with dodging tax is effectively the same thing as a subsidy. Speaking as someone who owns a small company, I'd rather the playing field be level.

[patrickaljord]

> WHO ranks the French health care system as the best in the world, and the expenditure per capita is less than Switzerland (at least in 2007), so I'm not sure where you're getting your numbers from.

http://www.securite-sociale.info/

http://reachfinancialindependence.com/french-healthcare/

FYI: it's forbidden by law to leave social security in France and to encourage others to do so. Best system ever indeed, once you get it you never leave it unless you're ok with jail time.

[weavejester]

Those sources don't appear to quote any hard numbers, and don't seem to dispute the WHO's methodology, but then again I can't read French :)

[patrickaljord]

Sarkozy was elected in 2008 and he significantly lowered what national healthcare pays for you. You now need to pay for both a national healthcare and a private insurance to complete the cost. Problem is national healthcare is not a real insurance, what you pay is based on your salary, not your actual risk. So people with no risk end up paying much more than they would with a private insurance. My family in the Netherlands and Switzerland pay way less than I do.

[weavejester]

The WHO report is back from 2000, so it's certainly possible the rankings have changed since.

[flyinRyan]

Why on earth do you live in France? It sounds like you don't believe in anything that makes France France.

And health care is most definitely more expensive in Switzerland than France. It's privatized but there are strict regulations on how much money insurance companies can make and all citizens are required by law to have insurance.

> Not for subsidizing movie producers

France makes great movies, but they could never compete against Hollywood financially. I for one am quite glad that France does what they need to to make sure good, original French movies (ok, not all of them, but much better than Hollywood) don't lose out to fast-food garbage the US is pumping out.

[danmaz74]

In the face of ideology there is little to discuss...