5GQ: Robert Murphy – The Primal Prescription

Robert P. Murphy is Research Assistant Professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University. In addition to The Primal Prescription, Murphy is the author of several economics books for the layperson, including Choice (Independent Institute 2015), The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (Regnery 2007), and the textbook Lessons for the Young Economist (Mises Institute 2010). He blogs at ConsultingByRPM.com.

1. Everyone has a sense that the healthcare industry is a mess in the US. Obviously it’s a big story with a lot of moving parts, but how did we all get into this mess?
2. You wrote this with the help of a medical doctor, and with your background I’d expect you focused more on the economics side of things, but what would be the prescription for us as individuals to give us a better chance at surviving the “sick care” sinkhole? What does “primal” mean?
3. Based on the continued trajectory of the Affordable Care Act, where do you see the likely future of the healthcare industry heading?
4. As a society, what are some steps we can take to start fixing healthcare, or is it a lost cause?
5. Many futurists are excited about the advances in medical technologies, like DNA sequencing, robotic surgery, stem cells, home medical tricorders, etc. Is it possible that technology will bail us out of the holes our government has dug?