New England Journal of Medicine: The Health Care Jobs Fallacy

In a recent New England Journal of Medicine Article entitled The Health Care Jobs Fallacy, Drs. Baicker & Chandra question the very popular public policy assumption that growth in health care jobs is a positive economic indicator.  The article is a quick read, and begins strongly by questioning a core fallacy that more jobs means a stronger economy.  The very existence of a job does not imply that any value is actually being created, makes no comment on the efficiency of the expenditure, or if the person doing the job could be doing something more productive with his or her time.  Overall a bold move by the authors and NEJM to challenge common (and flawed) political wisdom.

However, the authors retreat from their strong opening as they maintain the position that health care is necessarily a uniform, society-wide service and must be viewed through the scope of central planning.  Talk about "losers and winners" and the boilerplate closing disclaimer paragraph (go slow, wait for evidence …