Healthcare: Problems and Potential, 5 op

Health care is a special sphere of policy-making. It occupies a unique place in people’s preferences and governments’ responsibilities. This class explores the political and economic issues involved in understanding health care policy in the United States and in the Nordic countries. In particular, we will address the differences between private and public health insurance systems and examine the advantages and disadvantages in each. We will attempt to address the question of what would be an ideal health care system. The ideas addressed in this class are inherently economic and political issues, and we will appeal to theory and concepts from both fields to build our understanding.