저자: 미상 · 외국인
요약 보기
미국과 싱가포르의 공공제도(세금 부담과 의료 성과)를 주식 투자 관점의 PEG 비율로 비교한 영상. 미국은 세금 부담이 높고 의료 성과가 상대적으로 낮아 PEG 약 3(고평가)으로 평가, 싱가포르는 저세금·우수한 의료 성과로 PEG 1(적정가치)로 평가. 이는 금융시장 자산에 대한 발언이 아니다.
다듬은 글
Welcome to The Explainer. Today, we're going to do something a little different. We're going to look at two countries, the US and Singapore, but not just as places to live, we're going to analyze their public systems just like a stock investor would analyze a company. So, let's just jump right in with a question to frame this whole thing.
If your country were a company listed on the stock market, would you buy its stock? Would you think it's a good investment for your future? Here's how we're going to break it down. First, we'll introduce the simple investment tool we're using. Then, we'll look at the price you pay, followed by the return you get, focusing on healthcare.
And finally, we'll put it all together for the verdict. All right, first up, let's talk about the powerful, yet brilliantly simple tool we'll be using for this comparison. Okay, so what is this tool? It's called the PEG ratio. Now, if you're an investor, you've probably heard of it. It's a really simple metric made famous by the legendary Peter Lynch to figure out if a stock is a bargain or a rip-off.
It just compares the price you pay to the earnings and growth you get back. And we're going to apply that same idea here. What's the price we pay in taxes, and what are the earnings we get back in public services? So, the whole idea is really easy to grasp. A PEG ratio of one, that's perfect balance.
It means the price you're paying is totally justified by the value you're getting. But, what if that ratio is way bigger than one? Well, that's when things get out of whack. You're basically paying a huge premium for what you're receiving. You're overpaying, simple as that. Okay, we've got our tool.
Now, let's look at the price component. And for most of us, the most direct price we pay is what's taken right out of our paycheck, taxes. So, let's start with the US. Now, what you're seeing here isn't just the income tax rate. It also includes those mandatory FICA taxes, you know, social security and Medicare.
And look at that. If you're a single person making a hundred grand a year, more than a fifth of your paycheck, over 21%, is going straight to the federal government. Okay, now let's hop over to Singapore, and whoa, the difference is just massive. The secret sauce here is how they handle mandatory savings.
The money you're required to put into your own retirement and healthcare accounts, that's not considered taxable income. It's treated like savings. Because of that one little difference, that same person earning a hundred thousand dollars suddenly has an effective tax rate of just 3.3%. Incredible. And this chart just makes it impossible to ignore.
I mean, look at that. Side by side for the exact same hundred thousand dollar income, the price you pay in federal taxes in the US is more than six times, six times higher than in Singapore. That's a huge, huge difference right out of the gate. So, okay, the price is worlds apart, but, you know, a high price can be totally worth it if you're getting amazing returns, right?
So, now we have to ask the big question. What are the earnings on this investment? Let's dig into one of the biggest public services there is, healthcare. And right away, you can see these two countries are on completely different planets when it comes to healthcare. In the US, you've got this fragmented, sort of hybrid system.
A lot of working folks pay taxes for big public programs like Medicare, but they don't actually qualify to use them. So, what do they do? They have to go and pay again for private insurance. Singapore, on the other hand, has this fully integrated national system that's all about personal savings, making sure everyone is covered, and keeping a tight lid on prices.
Singapore's whole system is famous for being built on these three pillars. They call it the three M's. First, there's MediSave. A chunk of your mandatory savings goes right into your own personal health account, and it even earns interest. Then, you've got MediShield Life, which is a really low-cost national insurance plan to protect you from those huge, scary hospital bills.
And finally, there's MediFund, which is a true government safety net for people who have absolutely no other way to pay. And this right here, this gets to the heart of the paradox of the American system. Think about this for a second. The US government, just the government, with tax dollars, actually spends more per person on healthcare than a lot of countries that provide universal, totally free coverage for everyone.
It just begs the question, where is all that money going? Well, there were a few big reasons. First, like we said, the middle class gets hit twice. They pay taxes, and then they pay again for private insurance. Second, the whole system is so fragmented with thousands of different insurers, which creates just a ton of administrative waste.
And third, it's a for-profit system without strong price controls, so costs can spiral. The end result, the US is spending a jaw-dropping 17% of its entire economic output on healthcare. But, the actual health outcomes, they're often worse than in other developed countries. And then you look at Singapore.
The contrast is just, wow. They have some of the best health outcomes in the entire world. I'm talking top-tier life expectancy. And they do it all while spending only about 4% of their GDP on healthcare. That is just a radically more efficient system, way more bang for your buck. All right, let's put it all together.
We've looked at the price, we've looked at the return, it's time to run the numbers, calculate that PEG ratio, and deliver our final investment verdict. Okay, so let's do the math for the US. The price is sky-high, right? We saw the taxes are way higher, and that's before you even add in the cost of private insurance.
Meanwhile, the return, the health outcomes you get for all that spending, is lagging. So, a really high price for a relatively low return, that gives you a high PEG ratio. We'd put it somewhere around a three, and in investing terms, that is the textbook definition of an overvalued asset. You're paying way too much for what you're getting.
Now, let's look at Singapore. It's a totally different story. The price in taxes is super low, and the earnings, they're amazing, world-class health outcomes. So, when you have a low price paired with a high-quality return, everything balances out perfectly. That gives us a PEG ratio of one, and that's the holy grail for an investor, a fairly priced asset.
The value you receive is right in line with what you pay. You know, when you look at public policy through this kind of investor's lens, it really gives you a new way to think about the systems that shape our lives. This isn't really about which country is better overall, it's about which system provides better value for the price you pay.
And that leaves us with a final question for you to think about. If public policy were an investment, what PEG ratio would you demand? What price are you willing to pay, and what kind of return do you think you deserve?
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