bit_pattern
7th October 2010, 02:44 AM
An interesting take on economic growth being the be all and end all, thought I'd share
Ballooning success of capitalism is doing us a fat lot of good (http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/ballooning-success-of-capitalism-is-doing-us-a-fat-lot-of-good-20101005-16613.html)
In Australia, 61 per cent of adults are overweight or obese, making us almost as fat as the Americans. In the past 20 years, our rate of overweight has increased faster than in any other developed country. It's projected to rise a further 15 per cent in the next 10 years.
And the good news? It's saving taxpayers money. Although healthcare spending for obese people is at least 25 per cent higher than for someone of normal weight, and increases rapidly as people get fatter, severely obese people are likely to die eight to 10 years earlier, so their shorter lives mean they incur lower healthcare costs over their lifetime. Even greater than the saving on smokers.
If you don't like that, try this. As measured by gross domestic product, obesity is a win-win-win situation. The more you eat, the more you add to GDP and the profits of businesses. If the messages of advertising and marketing make you feel self-conscious about your overweight, everything you spend on fancy diets, gym subscriptions and so forth adds to GDP.
And then when you damage your health, everything you, the government and your health fund spend on trying to keep you going also adds to GDP. Even when you die prematurely, that won't count as a negative against GDP - although the absence of your consumption will be missed.
Get the feeling there's something amiss?
Ballooning success of capitalism is doing us a fat lot of good (http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/ballooning-success-of-capitalism-is-doing-us-a-fat-lot-of-good-20101005-16613.html)
In Australia, 61 per cent of adults are overweight or obese, making us almost as fat as the Americans. In the past 20 years, our rate of overweight has increased faster than in any other developed country. It's projected to rise a further 15 per cent in the next 10 years.
And the good news? It's saving taxpayers money. Although healthcare spending for obese people is at least 25 per cent higher than for someone of normal weight, and increases rapidly as people get fatter, severely obese people are likely to die eight to 10 years earlier, so their shorter lives mean they incur lower healthcare costs over their lifetime. Even greater than the saving on smokers.
If you don't like that, try this. As measured by gross domestic product, obesity is a win-win-win situation. The more you eat, the more you add to GDP and the profits of businesses. If the messages of advertising and marketing make you feel self-conscious about your overweight, everything you spend on fancy diets, gym subscriptions and so forth adds to GDP.
And then when you damage your health, everything you, the government and your health fund spend on trying to keep you going also adds to GDP. Even when you die prematurely, that won't count as a negative against GDP - although the absence of your consumption will be missed.
Get the feeling there's something amiss?