British teeth, Japan and Green Dam

This week, we look at health care in the US, the Japanese economic recovery, and China’s decision not to install the Green Dam filtering software on all computers.

A healthy system

Americans say they only have to look at British teeth to know that they don’t want a system like the NHS, writes the UK newspaper The Times. Current “horror stories” about the NHS in the US, however, are based on ignorance — and the fear that Barack Obama’s health-care reform is “socialized medicine”.

… The idea that Mr Obama is trying to set up an American health service like ours is wrong; US policy discussions are concerned with the state provision of health insurance, not with the state provision of health treatment, so emotional comparisons with the NHS are largely irrelevant. ...  Americans fear more tax rises and losing their generally excellent healthcare. Put bluntly, they don’t want to give another damn red cent to Uncle Sam. ...

False start

Japan’s recovery is not all it seems, writes the Financial Times. The growth of 0.9 per cent in the second quarter makes it the best-performing developed economy. But the figure hides the real economic problems — which could prevent the Liberal Democratic party from remaining in power after the August elections.

… For a start, unemployment is creeping up. Last month, it nudged back to 5.4 per cent, close to the 2003 peak that followed a decade of stagnation. Much of the growth, too, is indebted to a huge stimulus package, as well as to a bounce in net exports, the latter partly due to a fall in imports. Taken together, that is hardly an unequivocal sign of economic vigour. …

Closing the dam

Last week, Beijingbacked down on a plan to install an invasive filtering software known as "Green Dam" on all computers in China. The government probably decided the initiative wasn’t worth the political cost, writes The Wall Street Journal.

… This isn't the first time China has backed down over onerous technology requirements, such as a 2006 reversal over wireless encryption standards. Still, the Green Dam decision is encouraging because it shows how China's integration into the global trading community has empowered reformers within the country and given foreign companies a way to push back against protectionism. …