The Efficient Society

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The Efficient Society: Why Canada is as Close to Utopia as it Gets is a book by Canadian philosopher and author

efficiency as a value. The book was released to positive reviews, and became a national best-seller.[citation needed
]

Overview

Drawing on rational choice and

shirking), it creates many others. Government intervention in the economy can further help to relieve these collective action problems. Heath argues that the government should operate only in markets where a collective action problem occurs and not in markets where this problem is absent (where it is a race to the bottom
not a race to the top). This is one of the reasons, Heath argues, that the United Nations Annual Human Development Report consistently ranks Canada as the best place in the world to live. Canadians throughout their history have shown greater tolerance for government intervention than their American counterparts and Heath argues that it is for this reason that Canada is "as close to utopia as its gets".

Heath also clarifies the book's optimistic title, stating that it is obviously an exaggeration. He claims that "as close to utopia as it gets" may in fact not be very close at all.[citation needed]

Health care

"Comparing health care provision in the United States and Canada (i.e., private versus public insurance schemes), Heath argues that while both systems have inherent problems, the greatest level of well-being with respect to health is to be found in welfare, not market-based, economies... Heath also argues that by maintaining physicians on a fee schedule, as opposed to letting the market establish the price of services, the

Canadian health care system
keeps the amount of gross domestic product spent on health care significantly lower than in the US." [2]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0-670-89149-5
    .
  2. PMC 81375
    .
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