Gregory Mankiw has an opinion piece in the Sunday New York Times in which he argues that, practically speaking, Republicans and Democrats have reached "some agreement" on some of the critical issues involving health care reform. What are these sources of agreement? Well, he says they are:
- the value of competition in health care
- a mandate for health insurance
- the money must come from somewhere (taxes, premiums, ...)
- health care costs can be controlled
Professor Mankiw (economics professor at Harvard and current adviser to Mitt Romney) says neither party seems to have a "Plan B" in case their attempts to control health care costs fail.
Professor Mankiw is, of course, talking about a "consensus" in the sense that the practical consequences of the views converge. However, that seems very different from an "actionable" consensus. I'm just not as optimistic as he is; that is, I don't see a critical mass in either party large enough to persuade them to "come together" and create an actual plan. I hope I'm wrong.
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