We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, March 16, 2012

The prescription drugs bubble

Click here to access article by Robin Pope and Reinhard Selten from Real-World Economics Blog. 

This posting is an excerpt from a longer paper entitled,  “Public debt tipping point studies ignore how exchange rate changes may create a financial meltdown”. Thus, it was written with this thesis in mind.

Nevertheless, it makes some very interesting points about the public contribution to the profits of privately owned pharmaceutical corporations and the latter's influence of government policies to serve the interests of the corporations. 

This subject desperately needs to be developed as a separate study. Possibly it has been--I am not very knowledgeable on this subject. One might find excellent exposés on this issue by referring to the reference sources in the larger document.