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No, they aren't. They are just exploiting an (artificial) monopoly. That has nothing to do with efficiency.
by pg314 9y ago
No, they aren't. They are just exploiting an (artificial) monopoly. That has nothing to do with efficiency.
- HarryHirsch 9y agoSo what?! They are operating within the constraints of the market. Before the vulture capitalists swooped in prices were very reasonable for 30 years, the previous owners chose not to exploit their monopoly, then these two increased their efficiency.
- forgotmysn 9y agothey didn't increase efficiency at all, they just increase the amount they were able to squeeze out of the IP. thats not an efficiency vs inefficiency, its n vs n+1.
- johncip 9y agoI think you could make a case that charging the highest price for something that the market will bear corrects an inefficiency in the market. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inefficientmarket.asp http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inefficientmarket.asp It's not that they started producing more units, it's that some folks (the ones using the drugs) were taking advantage of a market inefficiency (the insufficiently low price) which when corrected, meant greater returns for Shkreli et al. Just as when a "retail" day trader hits on a system that enables them to make a large amount of money, they're taking advantage of an inefficiency, and, in a way, helping to correct it. It's not pretty, but being ugly doesn't make it inaccurate.
- forgotmysn 9y agobut we're talking about a monopoly. a market inefficiency only occurs if there is competition, a more efficient alternative.
- valuearb 9y agoThe patent system is not a free market.