[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.