Well if they got rid of the sliding boards, the free massages and the nap rooms and encouraged people to work while they are actually at work; imagine the gains in productivity they would have. They might even be able to reduce the price.
I remember a few things that bugged the hell out of me at the hospital for the birth of my kids...her bed was located near the door. Every time that darn door open...a rush of noise came into the room from the nearby nurse station. She tried the headphones...very uncomfortable and the main issue was the "bed arrangement" near the door (she was the last one to get a bed in the room and nobody else wanted the bed near the door)...they give you the space near the door. I did spend one night in her room on a cot with pillow. I do remember the staff gave her a portable toilet just in case one of the other room occupants was in the bathroom. That memory of the portable toilet came rushing back during my own hospital stay after I was quarantine with a highly contagious infection...its something I will never forget... Portable toilets placed in your room when you're not allowed or unable to use the toilet in the bathroom in your room. The smell afterwards, stays in the room for about an hour and you can't even open the darn window. They did charge for internet connection. I believe was $8 per day but it was a poor connection with constant disconnections. Yeah, if you know your going to be in the hospital...I'm sure you can be prepare with better computer experiences (e.g. movies, music)...things the hospital should provide at a small cost if you forget to bring your own.
I have a really dumb econ question here... In the three decades following WWII American industry exploded. As did our standard of living. If you go to any city in the Midwest you'll see thousands and thousands of Cape-Cod style homes that were built, I assume as starter homes for families. With one "bread-winner". And chances are that one bread-winner was working making something. I grew up in one. Now I realize a lot of that industry was rebuilding Europe and Japan, hence wealth, but American consumers were buying American products made by Americans. What has changed in our economy that won't allow that to happen again? Maybe its that we think we need too much stuff. Everyone I know has way more sh*t than they need or use. I know people who can not even pull their cars into their garages because of "junk". Its ridiculous. When I came up we had the absolute necessities, and the stuff lasted for years and years and years. I still have my father's tools and my mother's flatware and Revere pans. And the Osterizer blender. And we were happy. Education was forefront and foremost. What has gone wrong? OK... so cheaper stuff came along. All the sudden a blender made in China costs half as much. But pretend that didn't happen. We were still thriving. And a family could send their kids to college with only the (father) working. I ask again...What went wrong?! I think Americans are WAY too wasteful. As a whole (we) spend money we don't have on sh*t we don't need. Or was it healthcare costs and taxes? Financing the welfare state? Help me out here. This is beyond me, and perhaps I didn't write it out well enough... but it worked in the 50's, why can't it work now?
IMHO, in a nutshell... ------------------------ "I just want to say one word to you. Just one word." "Yes, sir." "Are you listening?" "Yes, I am." "Plastics." --------------------- Back in those days, there was a sense of conservation. These days, we live in a society where everyone wants stuff faster, better, cheaper. Stuff has become so cheap because of plastics, and machining, that now, why try to rebuild something that breaks when you can just buy a new one for half the cost of repairing the old one? Some call it "planned obsolescence", some call it "living in a disposable society". You could do a graduate thesis on it and get top marks if written well enough, but it's complicated to no-end. There is no one answer that could satisfy you I reckon'. But plastics is a good starting point.
I remember as a kid my parents coming to the U.S. to look for a home and all those lines (long lines) at the gas stations. Also, I remember crazy interest rates and the soaring education and healthcare costs... It scared the crap out of them. I think something changed in the 70's and I only say that because that's when I notice my parents bitching a lot about the economy, healthcare and education costs.
Its funny you bring that up... I think 3D printers of the size that can be moved on flatbeds.... could build homes modularly using plastic. Plastic walls with lots of air bubbles are FAR superior in insulative properties than anything we can build with sticks and mortar. You are SOOOoooo right. We use so much plastic in this country it makes me sick. I have a very minute eco footprint, and yet even at that, I marvel at how much trash I create. Sooo much plastic. Recycle that sh*t and 3D print homes. It can be done.
And the funnier thing is...Pretty much all plastic consumed in the world is produced from fossil fuels. (Mostly NG and oil). So the more we desire plastic things, the more fossil fuels we use, and so the more the environment is polluted. Vicious cycle that never ends. (Until we run out of fossil fuels, and thus plastics, that is!)
Trump has 4 bankruptcies stamped on his resume in the last few decades. Still, he does not understand that #1 cause of bankruptcies in the middle and lower class households in the US is to do with unexpected or ongoing medical expenses. Any truly patriotic US president would immediately summon top experts from Ivy League Universities, McKinsey and other consultants, Industry "hall of fame" personalities and have them formulate and device a plan to cut US HC costs by atleast 1/3rds. Fighting protectionist wars with other nations and saving puny amounts is a waste of time and brings serious risks of tough reactions from major powers like China.
US was doing just fine until the early 80s when Reagan jacked up defense budgets to outspend the Soviets. It was the necessary evil and it worked. Kind of a geopolitical master stroke. Once Soviet Union fell apart and communism shattered all across the globe, the US should have pounced on the opportunity to bring its economic house in order by slashing defense and other wasteful costs. Bill Clinton rode the internet boom and even left the budget in surplus, but George Bush came with tax cut plans for the rich under the disguise of offsetting temporary recession as a result of 911 attacks. Then he went to war that cost couple of trillions. Obama inherited a shattering financial crisis and had to issue several "jump start" aid and bail out packages to population to avoid Great Recession turning into a Depression. Let's see what Trump is upto regarding the monster debt which asks for good $300-400 billions in annual interest payments alone.