Paying for access to a good whose supply is blocked buys a higher price, not more access. Klein and Thompson argue that for decades US policy subsidised demand for homes, care and college while leaving their supply constrained, so the money flowed to whoever held the scarce supply: too much money chasing too few homes is windfall for owners, and too much chasing too few doctors is longer waits or pricier appointments. The health fight is over how care is bought, rarely over the care that exists to be bought. For any funder, a collective included, the first question about a bottleneck is whether the money adds supply or bids up what exists.

Evidence 4 passages

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  The problem is that if you subsidize demand for something that is scarce, you'll raise prices or force rationing.

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  Too much money chasing too few homes means windfall profits for homeowners and an affordability crisis for buyers. Too much money chasing too few doctors means long wait times or pricey appointments.

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  But giving people a subsidy for a good whose supplies choked is like building a ladder to try to reach an elevator that is racing ever upward.

• groundsAbundance, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson

  But while the dominant fight in Washington is typically about how we buy healthcare, we rarely talk about the healthcare that exists to be bought.

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