Obama Health Reform Passes First Hurdle

President Obama's landmark healthcare legislation was narrowly passed by the US House of Representatives. The vote marks a significant step towards the Obama administration's goal of extending health coverage to millions of people lacking it.

It's not surprising that the US is slowly moving towards a universal health care system. What is surprising is the unrelenting opposition to the reforms from what appear to be a large number of Americans on the grounds that it is some sort of socialist experiment.

The House voted 220-215 in favour of the bill, which will impose tougher regulations on the health insurance industry and provide cover for around 36 million more Americans.

In a statement, Obama praised the Representatives and said he was "absolutely confident" that the Senate would pass its version of the legislation. "I look forward to signing it into law by the end of the year," the US president said.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/08/representatives-pass-obama-healthcare-legislation

Kiwi households gorged on debt

Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Key Graphs - household debt

By December 2008 the outstanding total debt of households had increased more than six times in dollar terms since 1990. As a percentage of households' disposable income, household debt peaked at over 160% early in 2008, nearing 3 times the December 1990 level. The weighted average interest rate on total household debt however had fallen from over 15% to just above 8.5% per annum (at December 2008, 92% of household debt was housing debt, at an average rate of around 8%). Interest servicing of the increased debt, as a percentage of incomes, was 50% higher than in 1990.