For instance, we are frequently told by the for profit and non-profit organizations we work for that if we as a nation choose to universalize care, we will be reducing patient quality, as well as decreasing our own pay and benefits. (Boaz, 1994, p
In terms of access to health care, the lack of a publicly funded system (except for the poverty stricken) has left 40 million Americans uninsured and the system itself controlled by private insurance companies whose central aim is profit before high quality patient care. (Lumby, 2001, p
69) Since 2001, that statistic has steadily grown, in 2003 the number grew to 45 million. (Mccabe & Burman, 2006, p
"around 80% of direct patient care is provided by nurses, midwives and health visitors, with nursing services forming close to a quarter of the NHS budget." (Thomas, 1999, p
This was a cornerstone of Gorbachev's attempt to introduce a 'third way', which was somewhere between the old centrally planned system and a free market economy, and it devolved increased power to individual business enterprises and placed an increased emphasis on their ability to produce profits. However, this and other measures introduced by Gorbachev failed to fundamentally change the way in which the Soviet economy operated, and the system of state subsidies continued (Aslund, 1995)
This was a cornerstone of Gorbachev's attempt to introduce a 'third way', which was somewhere between the old centrally planned system and a free market economy, and it devolved increased power to individual business enterprises and placed an increased emphasis on their ability to produce profits. However, this and other measures introduced by Gorbachev failed to fundamentally change the way in which the Soviet economy operated, and the system of state subsidies continued (Aslund, 1995)
However, this and other measures introduced by Gorbachev failed to fundamentally change the way in which the Soviet economy operated, and the system of state subsidies continued (Aslund, 1995). In the light of Gorbachev's failed reforms there was a call for the introduction of a more radical approach and, in 1990, Shatalin and Yavlinsky proposed their 500-day program which sought to convert the Russian economy into a fully fledged market system in less than eighteen months (Bowker and Ross, 2000)
The priorities for the Soviet state had long been the heavy industries and the military and, due to the massive state investment in these areas, Soviet production of steel outstripped that of the West until as recently as the 1980's, while military spending had consolidated Russia's position as a superpower. Yet, when Gorbachev assumed power in 1985, he took control of an economy which was in a state of decline and which, in the years 1980 to 1985, had witnessed a growth of virtually zero and had been overtaken as the world's second largest economy by that of Japan (Rutland, 1996, p156)