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Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

mattstoller.substack.com

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Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#401

Post by chii »

anthony_barker wrote: post #378
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This one is particularly prickly because the high cost paid in the US funds medical R&D and extremely expensive clinical trials which other countries are free riding on by imposing price controls. We still need to fund the R&D and clinical trials (unless they could be made less expensive somehow), so the most obvious solution would be to have other countries pay their fair share so the US could stop subsidizing every…

I would argue Big Pharma free rides its self on research from universities around the world which are mostly publicly funded and not for profit. The US represents less than 34% of global research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17354441/

> The US represents less than 34% of global research

and yet, the US has about 5% of the world's population. So proportionally, they are punching way above their weight.

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#402

Post by bryanrasmussen »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #344
l33t2328 wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military? Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector.

I wasn't, so I went and looked it up and you were right from what I found - Healthcare: The federal government spent nearly $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2019. In addition, income tax expenditures for health care totaled $234 billion. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-... Defense: Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. http…

although I guess it is true the U.S could cut defense spending less than in half and pay 234 billion for everyone, so the original comment isn't totally off.

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#403

Post by oblio »

WalterBright wrote: post #315
Sophistifunk wrote: post #289

"Big Pharma" in the eyes of the public is two related but separate issues; 1) the weird employment-insurance-hospital loop that has developed in the US, and the terrible second-order-consequences of all the open-high/settle-low insurer carer system it led to, and 2) the medicine advertisements, and all the terrible consequences thereof. The second one seems like a much easier thing to get rid of using hard government…

Ironically, it's the governments attempts to lower health care costs that produced this mess of high prices.

I highly doubt that even without government intervention prices would be lower.

Healthcare is not a free market and yet Americans still try to pretend it's one. The information asymmetry is huge and nobody's going to negotiate/look around for anything when they think they're close to their deathbed.

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#404

Post by WalterBright »

oblio wrote: post #403
WalterBright wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, it's the governments attempts to lower health care costs that produced this mess of high prices.

I highly doubt that even without government intervention prices would be lower. Healthcare is not a free market and yet Americans still try to pretend it's one. The information asymmetry is huge and nobody's going to negotiate/look around for anything when they think they're close to their deathbed.

The rise in health care prices at a faster rate than inflation started in 1968, coincidentally with the arrival of Medicare/Medicaid (an attempt to reduce costs).

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#405

Post by Fredej »

mlindner wrote: post #331
sb057 wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this fact sheet more useful than the order itself or articles about it: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases... In the Order, the President: * Encourages the FTC to ban or limit non-compete agreements. * Encourages the FTC to ban unnecessary occupational licensing restrictions that impede economic mobility. * Encourages the FTC and DOJ to strengthen antitrust guidance to prevent employ…

All the good ideas are under the "Encourages" type of thing. How does this actually do anything?

My understanding is that the "encourages" part relates to agencies that are independent and are therefore not directly under the control of the president. He therefore cannot directly order them to do anything.

However, from what I could gather from news interviews, this has not been published without the collaboration from those agencies, who in general are on board with the changes.

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#406

Post by runeks »

o8r3oFTZPE wrote: post #385
Sophistifunk wrote: post #289

"Big Pharma" in the eyes of the public is two related but separate issues; 1) the weird employment-insurance-hospital loop that has developed in the US, and the terrible second-order-consequences of all the open-high/settle-low insurer carer system it led to, and 2) the medicine advertisements, and all the terrible consequences thereof. The second one seems like a much easier thing to get rid of using hard government…

""Big Pharma" in the eyes of the public..." What the public does not see is how the patent system is gamed by generic sellers. How this works is not something that can be easily explained in a single paragraph. The problem is specifically mentioned in the Fact Sheet/Order. This is a legitimate antitrust issue but it is exceedingly difficult to succeed in the courts.

> How this works is not something that can be easily explained in a single paragraph.

Where can we find the explanation?

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#407

Post by PaywallBuster »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #301
hyperhopper wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is also a third issue: The high cost of medicines that are low cost to produce, and are sold at low cost elsewhere

This one is particularly prickly because the high cost paid in the US funds medical R&D and extremely expensive clinical trials which other countries are free riding on by imposing price controls. We still need to fund the R&D and clinical trials (unless they could be made less expensive somehow), so the most obvious solution would be to have other countries pay their fair share so the US could stop subsidizing every…

are the clinical trials more expensive in the US than anywhere else??

Maybe that's part of the reason medicines cost multiple times more?

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#408

Post by borski »

hn_acc_2 wrote: post #266
borski wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see your point, but I will raise you that medical training in other countries doesn't also put you in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt before you've even begun to practice. The cost of a medical education has a large impact on why salaries are "artificially" inflated.

Sure, high salaries are justified for this minority. The people mentioned specifically in the comment are of more concern; sales, admin, etc. salaries in this field are also inflated compared to other industries.

Got it. Thanks for the clarification. I think I agree on that.

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#409

Post by iso1210 »

WalterBright wrote: post #404
oblio wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I highly doubt that even without government intervention prices would be lower. Healthcare is not a free market and yet Americans still try to pretend it's one. The information asymmetry is huge and nobody's going to negotiate/look around for anything when they think they're close to their deathbed.

The rise in health care prices at a faster rate than inflation started in 1968, coincidentally with the arrival of Medicare/Medicaid (an attempt to reduce costs).

Health care spending in the US was tracking with countries like Germany, Denmark, Sweden (increasing from 6% of GDP to 8%) throgh the 70s.

After 1980 US really took off though. In 1980 US spend 8.2% of GDP, Germany 8.1%, Denmark 8.4%

By 1990 US was 11.2%, Germany and Denmark 8%

US plataued in 1993 about 12%, lasting until 2000 when it took off again, reaching 16% in 2009, then was mostly flat (slightly reducing) until 2013.

Re: Biden launches action on "Big Tech, Big Pharma, and Big Ag" – can it be real?

#410

Post by iso1210 »

nostromo wrote: post #335
pkaye wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can personally import up to 3 months worth of medications if you have doctors prescription. https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importat...

You can buy prescription drugs online from India without a prescription for super cheap. They arrive in your mail. This is probably illegal, but not enforced. I’m insured so it’d actually be cheaper for me personally to go in to the doctor and ask for a prescription. But I got tired of taking time out of my day for this - these are just beta blockers for fuck’s sake.

> You can buy prescription drugs online from India without a prescription for super cheap. They arrive in your mail.

And what guarantee do you have of their contents?

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