4 ms·

The issue of fewer drug targets than in the past is not something that any economic system can solve. That's just chemistry. As for the rest of it, it's true t

The issue of fewer drug targets than in the past is not something that any economic system can solve. That's just chemistry. As for the rest of it, it's true that capitalism can't fix the FDA or foreign price controls. Lets hope Charlie Stross is right and the capitalists can take over the government and fix this.

angersock 12y ago
So, that's being too nice--recall that market forces are what have led to the overprescription of these medications and also the creation of the environments (hospitals) in which they flourish and mutate.
- yummyfajitas 12y ago
  Yes, we would likely be better off with a Pigouvian tax on antibiotics - that's the economist solution. Unfortunately, neither the capitalistic system nor the democratic process has any real way to get us there.
  - HarryHirsch 12y ago
    Pigouvian tax on antibiotics - that's the economist solution The Swedes and British manage extremely well with national guidelines that physicians actually adhere too. In some disciplines there is no alternatives to the technocrats.
craigyk 12y ago
Heh, the takeaway I've gotten from some of Stross's novels is that AI makes "capitalism" indistinguishable, at least from the point of human beings, from a centrally-planned managed economy. So there could be a future in which AI's become sufficiently advanced at serving human needs that we all live as komrades in a utopian communist society.
mcguire 12y ago
"Lets hope Charlie Stross is right and the capitalists can take over the government and fix this." > ...but [capitalism does not require democracy] means that the interests of the public (labour) are ignored by states increasingly dominated by capital (because of [automation privileges capital over labour]) unless there's a threat of civil disorder. So states are tooling up for large-scale civil unrest. Let us hope, indeed. Sounds like fun.
- digi_owl 12y ago
  In the Chinese curse sense?

angersock 12y ago

So, that's being too nice--recall that market forces are what have led to the overprescription of these medications and also the creation of the environments (hospitals) in which they flourish and mutate.

yummyfajitas 12y ago
Yes, we would likely be better off with a Pigouvian tax on antibiotics - that's the economist solution. Unfortunately, neither the capitalistic system nor the democratic process has any real way to get us there.
- HarryHirsch 12y ago
  Pigouvian tax on antibiotics - that's the economist solution The Swedes and British manage extremely well with national guidelines that physicians actually adhere too. In some disciplines there is no alternatives to the technocrats.

craigyk 12y ago

Heh, the takeaway I've gotten from some of Stross's novels is that AI makes "capitalism" indistinguishable, at least from the point of human beings, from a centrally-planned managed economy. So there could be a future in which AI's become sufficiently advanced at serving human needs that we all live as komrades in a utopian communist society.

mcguire 12y ago

"Lets hope Charlie Stross is right and the capitalists can take over the government and fix this." > ...but [capitalism does not require democracy] means that the interests of the public (labour) are ignored by states increasingly dominated by capital (because of [automation privileges capital over labour]) unless there's a threat of civil disorder. So states are tooling up for large-scale civil unrest. Let us hope, indeed. Sounds like fun.

digi_owl 12y ago
In the Chinese curse sense?