TRNN did a segment about ballooning drug prices as an issue in the Maryland governor's race.
A commentor wrote:
"...funding for research should be increased and any licensed, FDA-approved manufacturer should be able to make and sell the drugs, whose patent belongs to the government. This would introduce competition and drastically lower cost."
My response:
Public ownership of publicly funded intellectual property would resolve the problem of big pharma. Tight limits on private control of intellectual property would place severe limits on the corporate growth which would have positive impacts on income inequality. Severely minimizing state secrets would set limits on the power of the state. Information is power. If information were less controlled, the power of current institutions would be curtailed.
Bob Woodward was on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and said this:
Great missile system called THAAD. It’s the best missile interceptor in the world. We put it in S. Korea so we can shoot down N. Korean missiles… it’s a terrific missile system. So Trump asks, “Well how much does it cost?” “It’s a billion dollars.” … and they show him the lease…. “It’s great we have a 99 year lease.” And Trump says, “Who’s paying for it?” They said the United States. He says, “Take it out! Put it in Portland.”
It's pretty illustrative of Trump. For all his claims to be a 'businessman,' he doesn't understand the relationship between investment and return-on-investment. DJT is all grift.
He's apply the financial model that caused the Flint water crisis on a national level with the leading nuclear superpower.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
DJT's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh supposedly said to Susan Collins that Roe v. Wade is 'settle law'. C&L posted Lindsey Graham's comments.
My opinion:
It is highly disingenuous for any nominee to the Supreme Court including Brett Kavanaugh to call any Supreme Court decision "settled law." For any American not sitting on the Supreme Court, all their decisions 'settle law' (as determined by the U.S. Constitution. Justices on the Supreme Court use their Constitutional power to 'settle'/'resettle' law according to their procedures. As a non-Supreme Court justice, Brett Kavanaugh can legitimately claim he personally considers Roe v. Wade 'settled law'. But as a potential Supreme Court justice, that statement is using semantics to deceive the public. Lawmakers know this; Brett Kavanaugh knows this and Brett Kavanaugh's nomination shepherds know this. It is the people most impacted by Supreme Court decisions who do not know this and in a democracy, that is reprehensible.
Good interview at TRNN with climate scientist Will Steffen.
My comment:
"All of these [efforts to mitigate climate change] need to be underpinned by new value systems that value stabilizing the earth's systems as the highest priority that any economy must strive for."
This should be the take home message of every economics course/lecture from now on. Economics and the values of economics must be defined beyond goods/services and financial return. My preferred definition of economies are self-organizing and self-sustaining systems of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that promote the well-being of all participants. Capitalism would not be an acceptable primary economic system under this definition because it is not self-sustaining... using fossil fuels will eventually degrade the environment to the point where it cannot sustain human life as we know it. Placing profit and 'economic growth' above all else is the source of climate change, income inequality, health care crisis and many other social ills. But economies are human made social constructs; humans made/make them, humans can reshape them.
