Comments on: What’s the big deal about rate hikes?

By: podrock

podrock — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 02:09:20 +0000

(nicely played, by the way, given the day.)

By: podrock

podrock — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 01:41:45 +0000

And tax breaks.

By: podrock

podrock — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 01:28:52 +0000

The drug is generic. It’s the delivery system that costs $700. I know how to draw a drug into a syringe from a bottle and inject it. Been there, done that. But can you buy those supplies anymore? Nope.

Why not?

Because through a shit ton of cash you can change laws and regulations to make sure your product is the only option.

By: ER

ER — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 00:31:50 +0000

Besides, taking care of the poor should be the government’s job.

Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

By: BuckGalaxy

BuckGalaxy — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 00:16:53 +0000

Likewise brother!

By: BuckGalaxy

BuckGalaxy — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 00:08:32 +0000

Greed, or self interest, is a driving force in S&D. It motivates the supply end. Morality can have an effect on demand. There are many people who won’t eat pork because factory farm conditions for pigs are indescribably horrific. Ponzi schemes create demand for fraud. Church collection plates supply (false) salvation for those who demand it.

Whenever there is unusually high profits in any business, it will attract more competitors. Eventually others will make epipens and sell them cheaper because they can still make a profit. This will drive the price down. Unless of course there is some reason competition is not allowed. Patents for example, which have a time limit, or the government not allowing Big Pharma to have generic competition like the situation in the USA. But that just changes the supply side of the equation, absolutely to the detriment of the little guy. Epipens are an example of where the consumer would be better served if the free market were left alone.

By: BuckGalaxy

BuckGalaxy — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 23:33:35 +0000

There was a section of the Business Ethics course where the topic was corporate philanthropy, and I remember one guy in the class said corporate executives making decisions to donate to charities amounted to misappropriation of shareholder funds! I pointed out to him that was one of the things that could be voted on and decided at shareholder meetings.

The gist of that part of the course was that when it comes to corporate philanthropy, it should be related in some way to what the corporation does. Oil companies should donate to help areas where drilling has impacted the environment. Corporation that make medicine or health care devices should donate to clinics and healthcare centers etc.

It was one of my favorite courses in business school.

By: podrock

podrock — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 22:24:27 +0000

PS: We don’t have money. We have currency.

By: podrock

podrock — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 22:03:24 +0000

The short days make me cranky and arrogant. But you have maintained one of the most thoughtful and longest threads in some time here on the zone.

Be well, my friend.

By: podrock

podrock — Sat, 24 Dec 2022 21:47:12 +0000

There’s a chapter where the protagonist is led to a pile of stolen WWII Japanese gold deep in the Philippine jungle. He wants it, he needs it for his scheme, but he realizes there is no way he can remove it. The logistics are just too difficult – possibly life threatening. The demand is there, the supply is there, but it ain’t going to happen.

When he asks why he was even shown this pile of gold he is told that he is being taught a lesson.

I bring this up not to challenge your assertions, but to recommend a book (or more than one) that delve deeply into this issue.