President Trump wants to bring back drug manufacturing to the United States. Yet, he is unlikely to do so to any significant degree. About 90% of the drugs Americans take are generic drugs. Generic drugs are those that have lost patent protection. The profit margins on generic drugs are slim, and competition is often fierce.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
What Do We Know About Socialism?
“Bolivarian socialism” … took Venezuela from being South America’s richest country to a humanitarian catastrophe. Sweden attempted a form of socialism in the 1970s and ’80s, only to reverse course after it experienced massive capital flight and a financial crisis during which interest rates hit 75 percent. France’s Socialist government imposed a 75 percent tax on earnings over one million euros in 2012; it dropped the tax two years later as the wealthy packed their bags. Britain’s National Health Service, whose advocates chronically complain is “underfunded,” is in a state of perpetual crisis even as health care, according to the BBC, gobbles up roughly one third of government spending.
Source: Bret Stephens, New York Times
Wednesday Links
- The down side of weight loss drugs.
- WaPo: provider directory for Medicare Advantage plans is defective.
- Against the Trump administration’s views on autism. (Statnews)
- Enbrel, the blockbuster arthritis drug sold by Amgen, has a 30-year old monopoly and sells for a sticker price of $106,000. (NYT)
- Over the past decade, New York and New Jersey have lost 3 million citizens, taking with them $700 billion in combined personal income.
- Food stamps: One person was receiving them in six different states.