Just received the following press release from a friend of mine:

From the July/August 2007 Issue of Foreign Policy

On Newsstands Now

European Journalist:

U.S. Healthcare System Not “Sicko” Compared to Europe’s

Attacks Conventional Wisdom That Europe Offers a Single, Universal Alternative to the U.S. System as “Popular Fallacy”

In Michael Moore’s new documentary, Sicko, European countries are portrayed as universal providers of some of the world’s best healthcare. Not true, says British journalist and former HM Treasury official, Clive Crook, in his article, “Think Again: Europe,” from the July/August issue of Foreign Policy.

“True, the United States’ system is an outlier because of its reliance on private insurance. But Europe’s systems offer no single, plainly superior substitute,” he says.

In reality, European countries offer a bewildering array of very different and frequently unpopular models, he says.

Crook notes that Britain’s National Health Service is increasingly being combined with an extensive private insurance system that sprang up because of discontent over standards in the state sector. And across the continent, competition, control, and cost-sharing vary widely.

By common consent, the French system is among the best and it garners special attention in Moore’s film. So what’s not to like?

“Well, ask a French doctor or two when they return from their protest march,” Crook argues. “They’re paid roughly a third of what American doctors make.”

“Think Again: Europe” is available on newstands in the July/August issue of Foreign Policy and online at www.ForeignPolicy.com . In addition to healthcare, Crook debunks conventional wisdoms about Europe’s economy, its growing Muslim population, anti-Americanism on the continent, and more.

Availability for Interviews:

Clive Crook is available from Washington, D.C., to respond to media requests.

About the author:

Clive Crook is the chief Washington commentator and associate editor at the Financial Times, senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, and a columnist for National Journal. He is a former deputy editor of The Economist, where he also held positions as the magazine’s economics editor, Washington correspondent, and economics correspondent. He has also served as an official in HM Treasury.