Comments on: A Defense of the Pharmaceutical Industry http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/03/a-defense-of-the-pharmaceutical-industry.html The Idea Grove is a full-service agency specializing in public relations, marketing and Web design. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:07:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: SB http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/03/a-defense-of-the-pharmaceutical-industry.html/comment-page-1#comment-1303 SB Thu, 30 Mar 2006 11:41:00 +0000 http://www.ideagrove.com/weblog/?p=868#comment-1303 Guido:<br/><br/>There's definitely truth in what you say. If we hadn't allowed some of our corporations (in pharma and other industries) to get so big and powerful, things would be a lot different. But technically, I don't see a monopoly (maybe an oligarchy), and I don't think a cartel can be proven. So what we have is a group of very large companies that are acting within our laws, from what I can tell. And in a world of globalization, I think our corporate execs and our politicians would argue that the creation of mega-corps is necessary for U.S. based companies to compete (read: dominate) on the world stage.<br/><br/>So it's a tricky issue. I think the easiest public policy remedy is to increase the public sector's counterinfluence. But if you have a specific public policy suggestion, I definitely am open to hearing it. I'm more interest in solving the problem than advancing one ideology or another. Guido:

There’s definitely truth in what you say. If we hadn’t allowed some of our corporations (in pharma and other industries) to get so big and powerful, things would be a lot different. But technically, I don’t see a monopoly (maybe an oligarchy), and I don’t think a cartel can be proven. So what we have is a group of very large companies that are acting within our laws, from what I can tell. And in a world of globalization, I think our corporate execs and our politicians would argue that the creation of mega-corps is necessary for U.S. based companies to compete (read: dominate) on the world stage.

So it’s a tricky issue. I think the easiest public policy remedy is to increase the public sector’s counterinfluence. But if you have a specific public policy suggestion, I definitely am open to hearing it. I’m more interest in solving the problem than advancing one ideology or another.

]]> By: Guido Casper http://www.ideagrove.com/blog/2006/03/a-defense-of-the-pharmaceutical-industry.html/comment-page-1#comment-1302 Guido Casper Thu, 30 Mar 2006 11:27:00 +0000 http://www.ideagrove.com/weblog/?p=868#comment-1302 I agree on the part of avoiding free-market fundamentalists. However the most important public duties for sure is controlling and fighting monopolies and cartels (ENSURING free markets). And in this particular case, don't you think that if the pharma industrie wouldn't be that cartel-like and the entry barriers wouldn't be that high, there would be plenty of entrepeneurs happily willing to market curing treatments instead of "chronic treatments" and making a lot of money along the road. What you are describing is a LACK of free market. Ask the music industrie for their reasons to defend its old distribution channnels by all means. I don't feel like defending the pharma industrie. I agree on the part of avoiding free-market fundamentalists. However the most important public duties for sure is controlling and fighting monopolies and cartels (ENSURING free markets). And in this particular case, don’t you think that if the pharma industrie wouldn’t be that cartel-like and the entry barriers wouldn’t be that high, there would be plenty of entrepeneurs happily willing to market curing treatments instead of “chronic treatments” and making a lot of money along the road. What you are describing is a LACK of free market. Ask the music industrie for their reasons to defend its old distribution channnels by all means. I don’t feel like defending the pharma industrie.

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