[lbo-talk] Big Pharma and a flu vaccine

Marvin Gandall marvgandall at videotron.ca
Tue Nov 8 20:24:59 PST 2005


N Paul Childs wrote:


>>A report in today's Wall Street Journal blames private medicine for the
>>US's
>>unpreparedness to protect its population from the threat of avian flu and
>>other public health hazards. Or, more accurately, it blames the lack of
>>"incentives" - government subsidies and guarantees - for the reluctance of
>>drug firms to invest in less profitable vaccines.
>
> Well, duh, it's called a 'public good' and doesn't respond to market
> incentives or mechanisms. Health econ 100.
> WSJ arseholes trying to pass this off as a new insight.
---------------------------- Actually, I don't think they were trying to pass this off as a "new insight". I think they were just reporting within the framework of their (mostly unconscious) ideological biases. Also, are you suggesting the firms won't ramp up production if the government agrees to subsidize their R and D and buy up the additional supply at a price that guarantees them a good profit, regardless of how much demand is created by a flu pandemic?



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