4 ms·
One issue is that at some point "any profit" ceased to be considered a good outcome, and companies are now expected to do better and better when this makes very
by makecheck 11y ago
One issue is that at some point "any profit" ceased to be considered a good outcome, and companies are now expected to do better and better when this makes very little sense.
I imagine a simple solution would be a "reasonable profit limit" law.
In other words, if there is evidence that your costs to manufacture are $X, your sale price (especially in a monopoly scenario) ought to be strictly limited to some "reasonable" amount over $X, period. Any desire for more profit must then come from additional products or by taking additional risks that incur new expenses.
In a situation like this where there is evidence that "yesterday" your costs were $X, it can then be clearly said that your costs most certainly did not increase overnight by over 50x so it shall be illegal to charge over 50x more.
- cmiles74 11y agoI'm not so sure about your solution, but I agree that this seems like the inevitable result of make "any profit" every quarter.
- fluidcruft 11y agoI don't know what the answer is, but excess capital always demands more. When starved, the markets will feed wherever they can. I will add my two cents, though. I think this is enabled by ACA and the drug companies are playing a dangerous game if they don't want to end up with Medicare-negotiated rates. Currently if you're uninsured or on a high-deductible plan you pay full price for drugs. If you've got a more traditional plan the insurance company and manufacturer play their typical monopoly money game. If you want more amo for the fire look into the price increases for EpiPen over the last few years.