If it is profitable for two companies to co-operate, they will. Therefore making the more susteinable decision.

"If it is profitable for two companies to co-operate, they will. Therefore making the more susteinable decision. "

That's not necessarily true. In some industries, companies have issues with competitors that make them unwilling or undesiring of cooperating with them no matter what profit may be attached to it.

How indefensible of an advocate of socialism to condemn cooperation between business institutions when the absolute basis of socialism is cooperation between individuals and government institutions.
No one ever accused socialists of having logical or defensible ideas.

I'm not a socialist, nor am I condemning cooperation. I'm just saying it's not always going to happen.

"It's not going to rain every day."

"HOW DARE YOU CONDEMN RAIN."

Companies are run by people and can be just as self-destructive as their leadership. So they sometimes won't cooperate even if it is in their best itnerest both at the moment and long term.

If you want a first person critique of socialism just ask someone in a British hospital, or better yet ask one on the waiting list for surgery about the greatness of socialism.

The British government is in the process of laying off 20,000 health workers while it shuts down numerous hospitals, and all this in a country without a corresponding decline in population.

Of course the British socialists system does not offer numerous cutting edge course of treatments or drugs available in the United States.

A recent government audit showed that 1 in 5 British hospitals didn't provide elderly patients the basic medical necessities.

Obamacare is going to be the albatross around Barack's neck in the 2012 election.
No one said that socialism was ever able to match its hollow rhetoric with real world deeds and performance.

I don't remember the communist party getting elected in Britain...

How terrible it is to live in a "socialist" country which has a life expectancy of 80 (8 years longer than it was in the 1970s), greater than the life expectancy of our amazing privatized healthcare system (in which we nonetheless spend more than any "socialist" country).

Before the Tories decided they wanted to destroy the NHS, poll numbers showed a *record number of Britons expressing approval with the NHS*.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/19/nhs-andrew-lansley-healthcare-reform

Not surprisingly, after seeing the Tory "reforms", people are unhappy. They believe the Tories want to privatize the NHS. They're right.

http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/cameron_not_trusted_on_nhs_ne.aspx

Amazing that the NHS is so bad that people are pissed off when somebody wants to mess with it.

"I don't remember the communist party getting elected in Britain..."

I don't think any book has destroyed more brain cells than the Road to Serfdom - which has done more to conflate publicly funded services with a command economy than anything ever written.

Europe is socialist and not capitalist.
So if socialist Europe is so great riddle me this.....
Why did nearly 60 Billion Euros worth of investment by foreigners leave Europe's socialist nirvana in October alone?

Vital Signs: Foreigners Shed European Debt, Stocks
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/12/20/vital-signs-foreigners-shed-european-debt-stocks/

"The EU27 external current account recorded a deficit of 17.2 billion euro in the third quarter of 2011, compared with a deficit of [35.2 bn] in the [second quarter] of 2011."
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=STAT/11/181&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

"The U.S. current-account deficit—the combined balances on trade in goods and services, income, and net unilateral current transfers—decreased to $110.3 billion (preliminary) in the third quarter of 2011, from $124.7 billion (revised) in the second quarter."
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/transactions/transnewsrelease.htm

Mr. Rb,
Thank you for the chuckle.
There is nothing like someone trying to make excuses for Europe, who on top of that is such a simpleton they don't know the difference between debt as a percentage of GDP and aggregate debt.

Thanks, I appreciate the moment of brevity.

Blabla as usual, TC. Europe's economy is not in great shape, but the US economy is definitely not better in any way. You provided a source on a deficit in the balance of payments of the Euro countries and an outflow of capital, but of course fail to mention that the US runs a far greater deficit. GDP adjusted the deficit of the US runs every month is only more mind-boggling since EU GDP exceeds that of the US. You also fail to mention that the largest part of EU debt is owed internally.

Fact is that the EU, in spite of its obvious flaws in fiscal policy, still hosts the majority of AAA-credit countries in the world (according to US rating agencies). That you dare to condemn Europe's 27 countries for not coming to a uniform policy in a matter of months while the US senate has bickered for months about what is best for just the US, without regard for any other parties, is baffling.

"Of course the British socialists system does not offer numerous cutting edge course of treatments or drugs available in the United States.

A recent government audit showed that 1 in 5 British hospitals didn't provide elderly patients the basic medical necessities.

Obamacare is going to be the albatross around Barack's neck in the 2012 election.
No one said that socialism was ever able to match its hollow rhetoric with real world deeds and performance."

LOL.. you have got to be kidding this time.. the US isn't exactly known for its great healthcare system.

"Despite having the most costly health system in the world, the United States consistently underperforms on most dimensions of performance, relative to other countries.

Compared with six other nations—Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom—the U.S. health care system ranks last or next-to-last on five dimensions of a high performance health system: quality, access, efficiency, equity, and healthy lives.

The most notable way the U.S. differs from other countries is the absence of universal health insurance coverage. Health reform legislation recently signed into law by President Barack Obama should begin to improve the affordability of insurance and access to care when fully implemented in 2014. Other nations ensure the accessibility of care through universal health insurance systems and through better ties between patients and the physician practices that serve as their long-term "medical homes." Without reform, it is not surprising that the U.S. currently underperforms relative to other countries on measures of access to care and equity in health care between populations with above-average and below-average incomes."
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/Mirror-Mirror-Update.aspx


Or just take a look at this table, if that makes things easier for you:
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/~/media/Images/Publications/Fund%20Report/2010/jun/MM2010l.gif

Capitalism - Why? - Why not?

1)'The overjustification effect occurs when an external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task.'

eg: "If you pay children to draw, fun becomes work."

To the people equating socialism with totalitarianism: the original socialists were anarchists.

Mr RB, You total idiot. The interest rates on American government bonds cost a fraction of what European government bonds cost.

The rate of government bonds is the basic judgment of economic health.
Please pull your head out of your ass and learn enough about finance that you could put on the impression you could balance a check book.

I like these headlines.

Cancer Survival Rates Improving Across Europe, But Still Lagging Behind United States
Survival Rates Significantly Higher in United States Than in Europe
Most Cancer Survival Rates in USA Better Than Europe and Canada
U.S. Cancer Care Is Number One
5-Yr. Cancer Survival Rates: US Dominates Europe

Anticipating that idiotic Europeans will come back saying life expectancy is longer in Europe, that argument has been completely demolished by studies that take into account gunfire deaths and traffic fatalities.

Face it you stupid Europeans, your socialist system allows people to die at higher rates and die broke because you've wrecked an entire continents finances.

So keep blaming someone else for your stupidity, as your entire corrupt system goes to hell.

http://www.europeanmedicaltourist.com/transplant/kidney-transplant.html

Try getting a kidney transplant.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-12/desperate-americans-buy-kidneys-from-peru-poor-in-fatal-trade.html

Nice quote from a doctor who worked in Europe and the United States.

" I have worked as a physician in cancer center for many years in Europe and since 1997in the US, and have no doubts that the US health care system is much better that the one in the EU: service is provided by experts, no waiting lists for diagnosis and treatment, patient can schedule appointment (convenient time), make a decision and talk to a physician of his/her choice. The cancer patient in the US will get the best medigations available, unlike in the EU. That is not all but you got the idea. Last but not least, healthcare in EU is not free. You pay very high income (40-50%) and sale (17.5%) taxes too. It does not look good does it?"

You must be filthy rich. I don't get a choice with my shitty HMO. I have to go to certain doctors. I have wait times all the time to get an appointment. Perscription drugs cost an arm & an a leg. Many treatments I can't get because HMO won't cover them. You're the only one in the world in love with our crappy bureaucratic costly healthcare system.

Wow, good source. An anonymous poster commenting on a blog.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/17/eveningnews/main5318652.shtml

Pay no attention to this.

A good link to a life expetancy table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

Scroll down until you find the USA

Fulhamish, just another table that doesn't take into account gun deaths or traffic fatalities.
You poor helpless Europeans.
Why don't you just make up fantasies since reality doesn't work the way you want.
Ooops.
You already do.

Just had dinner with a Danish friend of my. He told me stories about vacationing in Norway and paying $10 for three potatoes. Paying $150 for a pair of Levis jeans.
Oh the living standards of socialist Europe.
If Sweden was a state in the United States it would have the poorest living standards in the nation.
What a gas socialism is!!!!!!!!!

Europe is run by conservatives, what the hell are you smoking. There is not a single social democratic party in control of any state in Europe.

"If Sweden was a state in the United States it would have the poorest living standards in the nation. "

One of the biggest lies you've ever told. GDP per capita - close to 50,000 US. 3rd highest HDI score. (US is ranked just above Estonia).

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/03/health/main5510794.shtml

1 in 8 babies in US born premature, compared to 1 in 18 in European countries.

US ranks 30th in the world in infant mortality (awesome healthcare we got, huh), with a rate twice as high as Sweden.

USA has a child poverty rate of over 22%. Sweden has the ***lowest child poverty rate in the world** at 2.6%.

http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/repcard1e.pdf

Sweden has a maternal mortality rate of 8 per 100,000 live births.

Amnesty just put on a report on the shockingly high maternal mortality rate in the USA

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/usa-urged-confront-shocking-maternal-mortality-rate-2010-03-12

You're a clown, TC.

Yea yea TC.. 'look at these headlines', 'look at this quote', 'just heard from a friend' blablabla.. how about you reply to these legitimate research findings I link to below which confirm that the absurdly expensive US healthcare system has consistently under-performed compared to other developed countries around the world. You're a joke.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/~/media/Images/Publications/Fund%20Report/2010/jun/MM2010l.gif

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/Fund-Reports/2010/Jun/Mirror-Mirror-Update.aspx