In yesterday's New York Times, David Brooks wrote, "bad policy can decimate the social fabric, but good policy can only modestly improve it."

All this fighting about health care policy and other government programs is misguided, he says. Sweden's health care program only increased life expectancy by a month or so. Their life expectancy was always 2.6 years above ours; their healthcare program only bumped up their life expectancy advantage to 2.7 years.

While a month or two of life might not be huge, the benefits of the Swedish healthcare program can be measured in other ways. The Swedes also don't have to worry about spending their final years consumed with the stress of paying for medication or Medicare forms. They also don't have to deal with the impact of sudden unemployment on health care, such as exorbitant COBRA payments or bankruptcy from medical catastrophes.

The impact of a program can be measured in many different ways.

Of course, government programs can't solve every problem. He's right that "historical experiences, cultural attitudes, child-rearing practices,
family formation patterns, expectations about the future, work ethics
and the quality of social bonds" matter quite a bit. That's why Asian-Americans have a life expectancy of 87 compared with 79 years for whites and 73 years for African-Americans.

Brooks is setting up a strawman argument here. I don't think anybody who argues in favor of healthcare policy or education or any public policy would say that government alone can make a difference. There has to be comprehensive change.

UPDATE: More from Matt Yglesias and Brad DeLong