Second, poor health in the individual probably detracts from his or her capacity to contribute to society more directly than the harm to productive society represented by the cost of the individual's healthcare.

Furthermore, the vast majority of American healthcare dollars are spent on individuals in their later years, after their productive lives are already over, rather than on working-age people. Finally, while reducing healthcare costs is necessary for the optimal health of the American economy, it probably relates more directly to private economic matters rather than to consuming national resources that could otherwise be dedicated to technological development in a general sense.

Response to Statement #3: As suggested in Response #2, optimum public health is not necessarily a prerequisite for global competitiveness unless by "health" one means healthy enough to reach productive adulthood. On the other hand, the American population is undoubtedly on the verge of an obesity crisis,...
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