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Provincial: Just follow the money
Commentary by Jeff Burgar
for South Peace News
“You don’t grow an economy by selling insurance to each other.’’
This is an often quoted statement pulled out of the air when politicians argue to help out their local voters.
They might want a new manufacturing plant, or want to keep an old one open. They might want a new highway, or a new building, or a new hospital. No matter what the background, it seems straightforward that people pushing paper back and forth might be part of an economy, but they can’t hold a candle to farming, car building, construction or flipping hamburgers.
Well, not so fast.
If we don’t like pushing paper, by extension, what is there to like about the entire service economy? Anybody not in the basic industries of food, clothing, shelter and manufacturing can be termed “in the service industry.’’
In fact, 70 per cent of today’s North American economy is termed “service.’’
In another sweeping statement, some argue that manufacturing is no longer viable in North America.
Send it overseas or to Mexico. “We are in the information age,’’ they say. So, if you think selling insurance to each other is silly, then how silly must it be to sell ideas to each other?
Perhaps, not silly at all.
This brings us to those “out of control, ever spiralling upward, health costs.’’ Last week, in a bold move to cut expenses, our provincial government announced the closing of the Alberta Hospital. The move will essentially force 300 people onto the streets of towns and cities in Alberta. Relatives aren’t able to take these people in. Regular hospitals can’t provide the specialized care, and the lock down, many of these patients need. In short, it’s just a plain stupid move.
It’s especially stupid given that, as the good people of High Prairie are constantly told, all health services in Alberta are “under review.’’ That’s why High Prairie doesn’t have a new hospital under construction. Interestingly, we can close a facility without the “review’’ completed. But we can’t build a new one.
There’s a simple point here. Economies are based on people selling stuff to each other. It doesn’t matter if it’s a car, an insurance policy, or a hospital bed. “Ever upward spiralling health costs’’ doesn’t mean money disappears down a black hole. Somebody, someplace, is on the receiving end of that spiral.
In the never-ending debate over health spending, and hospitals for that matter, this simple point is often ignored or lost.
As long as the basics are taken care of, yes, you can grow an economy by selling insurance. And you can grow a provincial economy by providing health services of all kinds, and yes, building hospitals too.
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