ObamaCare: behind the price fixing scheme

ObamaCare is widely understood to be based on a price fixing scheme. Price fixing schemes merely result in quantitative and qualitative reductions in supply. Further, every and all price fixing schemes in all of recorded economic history have failed.

Then "why" choose a public policy response of a price fixing scheme which is bound to fail?

The choice of a price fixing scheme by politicos is related to the immediate consequences of public policy. That is, the immediate consequences of public policy many times create the illusion of economic success in the very short run whereas the long term cascading unintended economic consequences of public policy generate dismal results e.g. Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, etc.. However, the short run results of public policy match the time horizon of politicos. That is, the politico's time horizon is the next election which is always just-around-the-corner.

Price is generally considered an economic phenomena. However, looking at price through a political lens, price is generally associated with and/or attached to the immediate provider of a good or service. Hence if a price is considered too high in a political sense, the price is not analysed in regards to all the economic components making up the perceived high price. Perceived high price is merely attached to the immediate provider of the good or service. For example, if a gallon of gasoline is $4.00, in a political sense the perceived high price is associated with the oil company. However, in fact the price is made up of demand and supply and the associated components that make the demand and supply curves intersecting at a $4.00 price per gallon.

Politicos realize price is associated with the immediate provider of the good or service, and if price is perceived to be high, politicos merely play politics with price and vilify the immediate associated provider, and disregard the economic components that make up price. The politics, which one must remember are associated with a sort term time horizon of politicos which is the next election cycle, is merely to offer a short term public policy solution to match the politicos election time horizon and not a long term economics based policy solution.

If product X is perceived to be expensive, and product X is associated with firm Y, then the immediate politico policy response is to vilify firm Y and declare the price must be reduced which means a price fixing scheme. The politico then publicizes the price has been reduced through his/her efforts and gains short term political capital. Then a certain section of the electorate see the immediate price reduction and perceive the problem of the high price has been solved.

Hence price fixing schemes, ObamaCare included, is merely a known failure scheme, based on politics not economics, directly related to the politicos election time horizons. The electorate later realizes, as the public policy of the price fixing scheme unfolds, that quantitative and qualitative supply reductions are something they are left to deal with on a daily basis. However, the politico in the long run is long gone. The politico leaves the electorate/tax payer with the long term costs associated with short term public policy results, that in fact, were based on the reelection needs of the politico's short term election time horizon.