Looks quite interesting
Is American Pet Health Care (Also) Uniquely Inefficient?
by Liran Einav, Amy Finkelstein, Atul Gupta – #22669 (AG HC PE)
Abstract:
We document four similarities between American human healthcare and
American pet care: (i) rapid growth in spending as a share of GDP
over the last two decades; (ii) strong income-spending gradient;
(iii) rapid growth in the employment of healthcare providers; and
(iv) similar propensity for high spending at the end of life. We
speculate about possible implications of these similar patterns in
two sectors that share many common features but differ markedly in
institutional features, such as the prevalence of insurance and of
public sector involvement.
Very strange – the salient difference is surely that pets are put down when they get old and sick. Perhaps that’s what it takes for the free market to work.
They do get put down, but often not until after a huge amount of money has been spent keeping them alive, to the objective benefit of nothing and nobody except the vet’s bank’s account. I know, pet owners pay willingly, and it’s their money, so it is the free market at work, but even so.