Market-based failure--a second opinion on U.S. healthcare costs

Relentless medical inflation has been attributed to many factors--the aging population, the proliferation of new technologies, poor diet and lack of exercise, the tendency of supply to generate its own demand, etc. However, public policy researcher Robert Kuttner offers a second opinion. He says the extreme failure of the United States to contain medical costs results primarily from our unique, pervasive commercialization.