Notes and References

Notes and References Preface 1. That same issue of The Times further described a patient who had to wait 12 months for an MRI scan, but got it done in a few weeks by paying £400. 2. The scope of this book is mainly limited to the countries of the European Union from before May 2004. 3. Eucken, W.: Die Grundlagen der Nationalökonomie, Achte Auflage, Springer- Verlag, Berlin, 1965. Subsequently, Milton Friedman took a similar approach. 4. Scrivens, E.: Quality, Risk and Control in Health Care, Open University Press, 2005, p. 2. 5. Fanu, J. Le: The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine, Abacus, 2004, p. 271. 6. Cyert, R. M. and March, J. G.: A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Prentice Hall, 1963, pp. 36–38 7. It seems to me that the Dutch and French “no” to the treaty on a European Constitution in 2005 was not an anti-European expression, but a sign of people feeling disappointed in politics. Chapter 1 1. I define a health care system as a social infrastructure, i.e., the organization, financing, and delivery of health care, which is purposely set up by governments for their citizens. 2. Swaan, A. de: Zorg en de Staat. Welzijn, Onderwijs en Gezondheidszorg in Europa en de Verenigde Staten in de Nieuwe Tijd, Amsterdam, 1993. 3. Sparrow, M. K.: License to Steal: How Fraud Bleeds America’s Health Care System, Updated Edition, Westview Press, 2000, p. vii. 4. That is, before the enlargement of May 1, 2004. 5. Samuelson, P. A., and Nordhaus, W. D.: Economics, International Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995, p. 6. 6. It is no surprise that the economic order has been an ongoing topic of study. The relevant literature sufficiently addresses the following themes: defini- tions of the concept of the economic order, attempts to classify economic orders, and descriptions of the development of economic orders (See, for example, Hartog, F.: Economische Stelsels, Groningen, 1970; Bergsma, S.: 309 310 Notes and References De Vermaatschappelijking van de Onderneming, Deventer, 1965, chapter 1; Popta, S. van: Inhalen en Voorbijstreven, Rotterdam, 1971; Doel, J. van den: Konvergentie en Evolutie, Assen, 1971; Zijlstra, J.: Economische Orde en Economische Politiek, Leiden, 1956, chapter 2). 7. Eucken, W.: Die Grundlagen der Nationalökonomie, Achte Auflage, Springer- Verlag, 1965. It should be noted that in Eucken’s view, a central authority does not necessarily have to be a government as we know it. It may also be a tribal chief or the boss of a sheikdom. Regarding the first basic type (Zentralgeleit- ete Wirtschaft), the author distinguishes between three variations: (a) the totally centrally controlled economic order (Total Zentralgeleitete Wirtschaft) which knows no freedom of exchange between individuals, and where the use of pro- ductive resources and the distribution of production and consumption are completely centrally controlled; (b) the centrally controlled economic order where consumers are free to exchange the goods that have been allocated to them (Zentralgeleitete Wirtschaft mit freiem Konsumguttausch); and (c) the centrally controlled economic order with complete consumer freedom (Zentral- geleitete Wirtschaft mit freier Konsumwahl). As for the second basic type (Verkehrswirtschaft), the author describes 25 market forms, based on the two determining characteristics of the idea of the market, i.e., supply and demand, with the price as the regulatory mechanism. Supply and demand know five variations: competition (Konkurrenz), partial oligopoly (Teiloligopol), oligopoly (Oligopol), partial monopoly (Teilmonopol), and monopoly (Monopol) (Eucken, W.: ibid., pp. 80–112). If we add to this the distinction between open and closed market forms from both the supply side and the demand side, or from an open demand side and a closed supply side (and vice versa), the number of market forms will be 100 (Meijer, G.: Neoliberalisme: Neoliberalen over Economische Orde en Economische Theorie, Assen, 1988, p. 72). 8. In organizing economic activity, prices perform three functions, namely, (1) transmitting information, (2) optimizing efficiency,and (3) determining income distribution (following Friedman, M. and Friedman, R.: Free to Choose: The Classic Inquiry into the Relationship between Freedom and Economics, Harvest Books, 1990, p. 14). 9. Later on, Friedman adopted a comparable approach, arguing that, fundamen- tally, there are only two ways to coordinate the economic activities of millions of people. One is central direction, involving the use of coercion, or “the technique of the army and the modern totalitarian state.” The other is voluntary co-operation of individuals, or “the technique of the marketplace.” (Kuttner, R.: Everything for Sale: The Virtues and Limits of Markets, The University of Chicago Press, 1999, p. 33.) 10. The terms “market economy” and “command economy,” as alternatives to Eucken’s “Verkehrswirtschaft” and “Zentralgeleitete Wirtschaft,” are from: Samuelson, P., and Nordhaus, W. D.: ibid., p. 6. 11. Dyson, K.: The Politics of the Euro-Zone. Stability or Breakdown? Oxford Uni- versity Press, 2000, p. 227. This has been the case throughout European history. In this respect, De Swaan points to the fact that even charitable work has not changed that much: “visiting the sick, teaching the ignorant, and feeding the poor. In modern terms: health, education and welfare,” are still a fundamental characteristic of European culture (Swaan, A. de: Dutch Welfare in Europe XL, in: Gier, E. de, Swaan, A. de, and Ooijens, M., (eds.): Dutch Welfare Notes and References 311 Reform in an Expanding Europe: The Neighbours’ View, Het Spinhuis, 2004, p. 3). 12. Vathorst, S. van de: Your Money or My Life: Justice, Solidarity & Responsibil- ity in Dutch Health Care, dissertation, Free University of Amsterdam, 2001, p. 54. 13. The philosopher Van der Wal distinguishes between three levels of meaning regarding the solidarity principle. First, there is the descriptive level. This is “the actual realisation of solidarity [...] which exists between people and the resulting preparedness to share existence with others, in particular where the dark sides are involved” (author’s translation). The second level, the analyti- cal level of the solidarity principle, involves “the central notion of a theory of society” (author’s translation). At the third level, solidarity is “a yardstick to promote the quality of interpersonal relationships” (author’s translation):Wal, G. A. van der: Solidair, Hoe en Waarom? Over de Betekenis van Solidariteit bij de Bekostiging van de Gezondheidszorg, in: Jacobs, F. C. L. M. and Wal, G. A. van der, (eds.): Medische Schaarste en het Menselijk Tekort, Ambo, Baarn, 1988, pp. 85–87). 14. Leijnse, F.: Verzorgingsstaat: Last of Lust? Rotterdam, 1994. 15. Gooijer, W. J. de: On Solidarity in Changing Health Care Systems: Europe in Search of a New Balance, Leuven, 1996. 16. For a discourse on different types of solidarity see, for example, Beer, P. de: Insluiting en Uitsluiting: de Keerzijden van de Verzorgingsstaat, in: Entzinger, H., and Meer, J. van der, (eds.): Grenzeloze Solidariteit: Naar een, Migratiebestendige Verzorgingsstaat, De Balie, 2004, pp. 26–42. 17. Loo, H. van der and Reijen, W. van: Paradoxen van Modernisering, Bussum, 1997, p. 103. This does not imply that systems of social security are a mainstay of equal importance in other societies.Asian countries, for example, differ from the countries of the Western world in the sense that pursuing personal ambi- tions, and striving for economic productivity, are thought to be mainstays of society (among other things). In these countries, social security is, to a large extent, thought to be the responsibility of family circles. 18. Rifkin, J.: The European Dream: How Europe’s Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, Tarcher/Penguin, 2004, p. 282. 19. The government is not necessarily the only preserver of the quality of society’s cement. Throughout history, the church, for example, played an important role in looking after the sick and vulnerable members of society. Also, unionized labor has contributed much to improving the faith of the less well-off. Nowa- days, voluntary organizations, particularly in the United States and Great Britain, are important instruments for maintaining “civil society.” Therefore, the withdrawal of government from the economic process may be compen- sated for by other members or organizations of society. Nevertheless, in whichever direction a country chooses to move along the continuum, in democracies, governments are always expected to act as the guardian of the “general interest” or “common good,” no matter how fictitious these concepts may be (in this respect, see Kleerekoper, S.: De Fictie van het Algemeen Belang, Deventer, 1963, and Schumpeter, J. A.: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (Dutch Translation), Hilversum, 1963, pp. 213–228). 20. Eucken, however, provided some examples which not only demonstrated that one should be careful about taking definite positions in this respect, but also 312 Notes and References that it is disputable whether it is possible to distinguish between irreversible series or stages in the development of economic orders.History shows that there have been severe regressions, with people falling back to a preceding economic order again. For example, the well-known scheme of the development from a “natural” economy, via a “monetary” economy, to a “credit” economy, which had already existed in the Eastern Mediterranean countries during the 300s bc, was reversed from a “credit”economy,via a “monetary”economy,to a “natural” economy again when these countries were impoverished under the Roman Empire. Comparable things happened around the same time in Egypt.The fact that, during the 300s bc, the Hellenistic states had reached the stage of a “national” economy, did not prevent them from falling back to a “natural” economy five centuries later. During the third century ad, the use of coins as the circulating medium was confined to some sectors of the economy, with the rest using a barter or “natural” economy (Eucken, W.: ibid., pp.

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