US in a Converging World, Reaction Paper Example

Hans Rosling made an appearance on CNN host Fareed Zakaria’s program to give a small presentation titled US in a converging world (Rosling). In this presentation, Rosling explains economic progress around the world from 1860 until 2010 and informs that about a century and half ago, most of the world was almost at the same economic stage but the industrial revolution set in motion west’s economic lead over the rest of the world. Rosling also mentions the fact that economic progress has usually been directly related to the state of healthcare in a particular economy. Economic prosperity has usually followed rising average lifespan and India and China were still poor with low average lifespan at the turn of the mid-20^th century. But these emerging economies have not only shown tremendous economic progress but also significant rise in average lifespan and if China’s current economic progress continues, it will take over the U.S. as the world’s largest economy in the next thirty years.

This is an interesting topic because it explains the importance of high healthcare standards to a country’s economic performance. This makes sense because healthy population is more productive and the country doesn’t lose precious human resources to high infant mortality rates. Rosling also mentions that healthy population usually leads to decline in population growth rate though the aging population phenomenon is also an undesirable outcome which may be why economic growth rate eventually slows down.

I have gained several lessons from this video that apply to me and the greater world. First of all, it makes sense because healthy people are less likely to miss workdays and be more productive. It also means high quality of life. This may be why many countries in Africa have not been able to realize their true potential because healthcare services continue to be inadequate and the resources they could spend on economic activities are either wasted or spent in dealing with healthcare epidemics. This may be why Bill Gates is especially focused on eliminating costly disease epidemics in Africa because this would finally enable the continent to join the rest of the world in economic prosperity.

This video has also strengthened my conviction that we need the universal healthcare system in the US more than ever. The rest of the world has been catching us and even though we spent more on healthcare than other countries, our healthcare system is inefficient, with millions having no health insurance. In order to ensure our economic lead, we cannot afford the inadequate healthcare infrastructure in the country. Many countries like UK and Australia have universal healthcare system because it works and the benefits are more than the costs. I remember reading somewhere that the average lifespan in the UK is higher than the US even though per capita healthcare costs in the UK are lower than the US. I have no doubt Obamacare will be good for the country because one of the surprising outcomes will be an improvement in the average work productivity of Americans.

Reference

Rosling, Hans. US in a converging world, Hans Rosling on CNN (Fareed Zakaria GPS). 15 February 2014 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjVHvC9EeB4>.