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The post is an essay about how the government has historically misdirected private resources by poorly assessing threats in times of crisis. Why does that make

by harryh 7y ago

The post is an essay about how the government has historically misdirected private resources by poorly assessing threats in times of crisis. Why does that make you think that government should be more involved in healthcare?

xenospn 7y ago
The government doesn't require a profit before working on a vaccine. The article clearly states that private companies will not work on new vaccines unless there's profits to be made.
- RandomGuyDTB 7y ago
  “The only real expertise in the world to make these vaccines in a quantity and a safety environment is in the private sector,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy. “If the private sector isn’t fully engaged and involved, it’s a show stopper.” That doesn't sound very hard to me. Hire people who have the skills necessary, pay them a fair wage (lower probably than they'll make in a corporation, but they'll be working for the people rather than a robber-baron), and let them make vaccines. Aside from the cost, is it really that difficult to do this? We've spent much more on war.
  - danw1979 7y ago
    I don't know why you got down voted for sharing what sounds like a perfectly reasonable idea...
    - harryh 7y ago
      We have several centuries of evidence that private industry is better at bringing innovative products to market than centralized governments.
      - pazimzadeh 7y ago
        Vaccines aren't that innovative, they just take a lot of trial and error.
      - xenospn 7y ago
        A vaccine or a life-saving medical treatment is not a product in the traditional sense of the word. You can't comparison shop when you have 2 weeks to live.
        dragonwriter 7y ago
        It is definitely a product. It's not a commodity, but lots of real products aren't, despite how the logic of the perfection of markets only works with commodities (in fact, the goal of everyone starting a business is to make their products non-commodities.)

by harryh 7y ago

xenospn 7y ago

The government doesn't require a profit before working on a vaccine. The article clearly states that private companies will not work on new vaccines unless there's profits to be made.

RandomGuyDTB 7y ago
“The only real expertise in the world to make these vaccines in a quantity and a safety environment is in the private sector,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy. “If the private sector isn’t fully engaged and involved, it’s a show stopper.” That doesn't sound very hard to me. Hire people who have the skills necessary, pay them a fair wage (lower probably than they'll make in a corporation, but they'll be working for the people rather than a robber-baron), and let them make vaccines. Aside from the cost, is it really that difficult to do this? We've spent much more on war.
- danw1979 7y ago
  I don't know why you got down voted for sharing what sounds like a perfectly reasonable idea...
  - harryh 7y ago
    We have several centuries of evidence that private industry is better at bringing innovative products to market than centralized governments.
    - pazimzadeh 7y ago
      Vaccines aren't that innovative, they just take a lot of trial and error.
    - xenospn 7y ago
      A vaccine or a life-saving medical treatment is not a product in the traditional sense of the word. You can't comparison shop when you have 2 weeks to live.
      - dragonwriter 7y ago
        It is definitely a product. It's not a commodity, but lots of real products aren't, despite how the logic of the perfection of markets only works with commodities (in fact, the goal of everyone starting a business is to make their products non-commodities.)