4 ms·

The solution to high prices is simply increasing competition. Eliminate the patent system, remove government regulations and licensing (usually set up by entren

The solution to high prices is simply increasing competition. Eliminate the patent system, remove government regulations and licensing (usually set up by entrenched businesses with regulatory capture), eliminate tariffs.

throwawaymanbot 5y ago
ericmay 5y ago
I agree that this is a basket of things we could do to increase competition which may reduce prices, but it may also create a whole entirely new host of problems depending on what we change. Eliminating tariffs for example will almost certainly put a lot of Americans out of work who, can't really do much about it. When they don't have jobs and don't have money to pay bills or eat, they'll re enact tariffs, or... start a revolution. The main issue is that all countries in the world don't live on the same playing field. If we got rid of nation states altogether then we wouldn't need a lot of these things.
jleyank 5y ago
Overly naive. Without some form of hardware/drug matter patent a whole lot of things aren't going to get made without direct government funding. Why, for example, should a drug company try to be the first manufacturer of a new drug class given the risk of failure? Why try to invent a new product class - better to clone. Without regulations, there's no consumer protection or guarantee that what's purchased was what was described. Very bad when it comes to biologically active materials and "well, it worked for me" isn't the kind of defence I want to hear in the marketplace. And I'm not sure how that would eliminate costs due to transport or raw materials unless you allow stealing them.
- Proven 5y ago
- cannaceo 5y ago
  Regulations provide increased safety but at an extremely high cost. In the absence of regulation companies need to build trust with consumers through their reputation and third party auditing. Consumer protection is vastly overrated IMHO. Better to have more affordable healthcare for all than high liability healthcare that only the rich can afford.
  - jleyank 5y ago
    Without rather strict drug regulation, healthcare of any kind will waste a lot of time dealing with drug overdoses and side-effects-gone-wild. How many unregulated business "build trust" with customers. Walmart sells on cost not trust. And there's simple solutions to healthcare that all nations except the US have found.
  - fzeroracer 5y ago
    I don't understand how people can say this when the pre-existing condition insurance nightmares occurred before regulation stepped in to stop it. For reference: My parents went bankrupt back in 2003 because my mother had a stroke and insurance denied her claims because they called it a pre-existing condition. I think people that claim consumer protection is vastly overrated have never found themselves in a situation where they get fucked over by under-regulated corporations.
    - jleyank 5y ago
      Being pregnant was a pre-existing condition before ACA, forcing people to carry COBRA for the length of the pregnancy and some more time to allow for complications. Or, you could not switch work until the child was 3-6months old.
      - anamax 5y ago
        I'm having trouble seeing why encouraging women to maintain health insurance throughout pregnancy is a bad thing. Same with chronic problems.
noTooMooch 5y ago
The solution to high prices is stop using monopolized nation state currency being “loaned out” to us by banks. Remove useless middle men whose role is to “generate value” by charging fees to move money. Money is moved via electrons in machines now. Moving real money is environmentally expensive and let’s grifters nickel and dime for merely acting as custodian for a moment. There are a lot of options and we didn’t save horse and buggy when cars came along; screw the bankers.
jimnotgym 5y ago
Petrol is really expensive compared to any time in the past in the UK, but that is not a primarily patent, licensing or regulatory problem. Isnt the lack of competition there due to the huge capital cost of starting an oil refinery and distribution business in a shrinking market?
throwaway787544 5y ago
Remove regulations and we all suffer. EPA is just one example; regulations stop companies from dumping toxic waste in the ground and sewers where it leads to streams and rivers and ground water, and goes back into our food and water (to say nothing of killing animals and insects which further impacts ecology). Why do you think regulation exists? For fun?

throwawaymanbot 5y ago

ericmay 5y ago

I agree that this is a basket of things we could do to increase competition which may reduce prices, but it may also create a whole entirely new host of problems depending on what we change. Eliminating tariffs for example will almost certainly put a lot of Americans out of work who, can't really do much about it. When they don't have jobs and don't have money to pay bills or eat, they'll re enact tariffs, or... start a revolution. The main issue is that all countries in the world don't live on the same playing field. If we got rid of nation states altogether then we wouldn't need a lot of these things.

jleyank 5y ago

Overly naive. Without some form of hardware/drug matter patent a whole lot of things aren't going to get made without direct government funding. Why, for example, should a drug company try to be the first manufacturer of a new drug class given the risk of failure? Why try to invent a new product class - better to clone. Without regulations, there's no consumer protection or guarantee that what's purchased was what was described. Very bad when it comes to biologically active materials and "well, it worked for me" isn't the kind of defence I want to hear in the marketplace. And I'm not sure how that would eliminate costs due to transport or raw materials unless you allow stealing them.

Proven 5y ago
cannaceo 5y ago
Regulations provide increased safety but at an extremely high cost. In the absence of regulation companies need to build trust with consumers through their reputation and third party auditing. Consumer protection is vastly overrated IMHO. Better to have more affordable healthcare for all than high liability healthcare that only the rich can afford.
- jleyank 5y ago
  Without rather strict drug regulation, healthcare of any kind will waste a lot of time dealing with drug overdoses and side-effects-gone-wild. How many unregulated business "build trust" with customers. Walmart sells on cost not trust. And there's simple solutions to healthcare that all nations except the US have found.
- fzeroracer 5y ago
  I don't understand how people can say this when the pre-existing condition insurance nightmares occurred before regulation stepped in to stop it. For reference: My parents went bankrupt back in 2003 because my mother had a stroke and insurance denied her claims because they called it a pre-existing condition. I think people that claim consumer protection is vastly overrated have never found themselves in a situation where they get fucked over by under-regulated corporations.
  - jleyank 5y ago
    Being pregnant was a pre-existing condition before ACA, forcing people to carry COBRA for the length of the pregnancy and some more time to allow for complications. Or, you could not switch work until the child was 3-6months old.
    - anamax 5y ago
      I'm having trouble seeing why encouraging women to maintain health insurance throughout pregnancy is a bad thing. Same with chronic problems.

noTooMooch 5y ago

The solution to high prices is stop using monopolized nation state currency being “loaned out” to us by banks. Remove useless middle men whose role is to “generate value” by charging fees to move money. Money is moved via electrons in machines now. Moving real money is environmentally expensive and let’s grifters nickel and dime for merely acting as custodian for a moment. There are a lot of options and we didn’t save horse and buggy when cars came along; screw the bankers.

jimnotgym 5y ago

Petrol is really expensive compared to any time in the past in the UK, but that is not a primarily patent, licensing or regulatory problem. Isnt the lack of competition there due to the huge capital cost of starting an oil refinery and distribution business in a shrinking market?

throwaway787544 5y ago

Remove regulations and we all suffer. EPA is just one example; regulations stop companies from dumping toxic waste in the ground and sewers where it leads to streams and rivers and ground water, and goes back into our food and water (to say nothing of killing animals and insects which further impacts ecology). Why do you think regulation exists? For fun?