Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Recessionary Times

The Drug companies maintain a position of charging what the Market will bear. This article highlights a drug which was initially offered for $6 per Pill, but increased to $180 per Pill due to the fact that it was effective against Cancer. The Concept of Charging what the Market will bear is bankrupting the Market. The worst aspect of the Situation comes in the form where Drug companies only have to declare some life-saving benefit with a few millions of Advertizing dollars, and then collect several billions of dollars in Profit in the decade required to prove the Drug ineffective in drug Trials. The installation of false hope in Patients should carry felony penalties, but modern Politics only considers it to be smart Marketing. The worst element is the medical degradation involved, where all Participants gravitate to the most profitable venues–old people with lots of Cash who do not want to meet their Maker; intensely aided by a lot of political clout.

I love the manner in which contemporary discussion can imply that usurious labor demands are inhibiting economy recovery. A previous Study finds that tuition costs have gone up 439% in an interval where median family income increased by only 147%. The idea of a level Playing field has been decisively defeated by the college Administration offices. Check out what a percentage of Income is required to pay for a college education in lower income families. As a man who has attempted Working a full-time Job while attending college full-time, I think it important that future Studies consider the number of Students who work more than 25 hours per Week while going to College. We are in a World driven by Incentives, and a college education lacks Incentive in a primary Recession impacting mainly White Collar occupations.

The horror of the Recession bites home with these Reports, all relying on Private Sector employment, which is cited to be down 250,000. Readers may not think this important, as Economic numbers like These come out every month, and no one understands the true economic costs. Government Tax revenue loss can be considered approximately $1000 per Individual loss in Income Tax, a probable average of some $600 per Individual per FICA tax loss, a Government welfare payment of $2500 per Individual in Unemployment Insurance, and Private charitable contributions (as in Food Banks) equal to about $300. The Individuals involved draft about $4000 from their Savings and Investments on average, and raise their Credit Card debt by about $6000 with sustained Unemployment. Any Mortgage Holder will likely become Two months in arrears because of the Employment loss. I am sure almost all of the Above numbers will be contested by Economists, but this assessment is given to simply provide a manner to look at the Numbers. lgl

No comments: