Words matter; any number of words can be used
to signify the Pathos of American culture.
However, perhaps none does so more aptly than Capitalism. It is arguably, the spirit, zest, and emotion
that propel us to so frequently achieve greatness. There are most certainly terms that better
reflect the American Ethos, and our sometimes, slippery connection to communal
ethics. In addition, we can point to
more poignant vessels to accurately capture the Logos that is the essence of
the way we in America reason. Today’s
word, however, is Capitalism, so perhaps we will examine those other elements
of persuasion at another time.
In this election season especially, a number of
politicians are poised to place an extra fine point on the distinction between
Capitalism and other primary systems of organizing and managing government’s
economies. The term Capitalist means
owner of capital. Capitalism is an economic system that emphasizes that trade,
industry, and the means of
production are largely or entirely privately owned and
operated for profit.
Central characteristics include private property, capital
accumulation, wage labor
and, in some situations, fully competitive
markets. In
a capitalist economy, the parties to a transaction typically determine the
prices at which they exchange
assets, goods, and services.
The degree of competition,
the role of intervention
and regulation, and the scope of state ownership vary across different models of
capitalism. These models
include laissez-faire
or free
market capitalism, welfare capitalism,
crony capitalism,
corporatism, "third way" social democracy and state capitalism.
The American
Way, purists will insist, is punctuated by free enterprise. At its core, in a free
enterprise system, business is governed
by the laws of supply and
demand; not restrained by government
interference, regulation
or subsidy. This apparatus is also referred to as free
market.
The American combination of
Capitalism and Free Enterprise is considered to be one of the most successful economic
experiments in the history of the world.
The United States is the
world's largest national economy, representing 22% of nominal global
GDP and 17% of global GDP (PPP). The United States' GDP was estimated to be
$18.124 trillion as of Q2 2015. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international
transactions and is the world's foremost reserve currency. Several countries use it as their
official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency.
The United States has a mixed economy and has
maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate, and
high levels of research and capital investment. Its seven largest trading
partners are Canada,
China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
The US has
abundant natural
resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the world's ninth-highest per capita GDP
(nominal) and tenth-highest per capita GDP
(PPP) as of 2013. Americans
have the highest average household and employee
income among OECD nations, and in 2010 had the fourth highest median household
income, down from second highest in 2007. It has been the world's largest national
economy (not including colonial empires) since at least the 1890s. It’s abundantly clear that our national
economic bona fides are firmly entrenched and indelibly established.
The numbers
are not just staggering on a macro level.
The United States, not surprisingly, also has a number of incredibly
wealthy individuals. Our Country has
more billionaires than any other. As of
2015, the U.S. was home to more than twice as many billionaires, 536, as the
second closest Country, People’s Republic of China, 213. In fact, to sharpen the focus to an even
higher degree, the State of California has more billionaires than every Country,
except China and the U.S.
California spawned 23 new
billionaires over the past year, bringing its total count to 131 — or nearly a quarter of America’s
10-digit club. It not only has more
billionaires than any other U.S. state, but also tops Germany, India,
Russia and the UK. In fact, if
California were a country, it would be home to the third-highest number of
billionaires in the world, surpassed only by the United States and China. California’s billionaires own a combined
$560.1 billion in wealth, which is more than the GDP of 49 countries, including
Argentina, Poland and Taiwan. All in
all, it is fair to say, that is good.
Not surprisingly, the
United States is home to the world’s wealthiest man. In 2014, Bill Gates, the Microsoft Tech
Titan, was the world’s richest man, according to Forbes. As of July 2015, Gates remains at the top of
the list.
While you have undoubtedly heard of Bill Gates, the name of a very
wealthy man that has bludgeoned its way into the consciousness of Americans
this week is Martin Shkreli. He is the
CEO of a company known as Turing Pharmaceuticals, which bought the 62-year-old drug called
Daraprim in August of this year. The
company immediately raised the price
of one pill from $13.50 to $750. Just for the record, I’ll submit, that is bad.
This increase
drew protests in the medical community from those concerned that many patients
will no longer be able to afford the drug. According to Mr. Shkreli, however, the move is
simply a smart business decision.
"Why was
it necessary to raise the price of Daraprim so drastically?" CBS News
correspondent Don Dahler asked Shkreli.
"Well,
it depends on how you define so drastically. Because the drug was unprofitable
at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money. And at
this price it's a reasonable profit. Not excessive at all," Shkreli
responded.
Daraprim was
developed in 1953 as a treatment for toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by a
parasite. It comes from eating under-cooked meat or drinking contaminated
water, and affects those with compromised immune systems, like AIDS and cancer
patients.
As one might imagine, there
were stark economic repercussions stemming from Mr. Shkreli’s “reasonable
profit” motive. When
Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim to $750 per tablet, the
average cost of treatment for patients rose from about $1,130 to $63,000. For
certain patients, the cost can go as high as $634,000.
While
Shkreli acknowledged that the move might look "greedy," he said there
are "a lot of altruistic properties to it."
"This is
a disease where there hasn't been one pharmaceutical company focused on it for
70 years. We're now a company that is dedicated to the treatment and cure of
toxoplasmosis. And with these new profits we can spend all of that upside on
these patients who sorely need a new drug, in my opinion," he added.
Oncologist
and CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus disagreed.
"Patients
shouldn't be taxed and charged for future research and development. Patients
should pay for the drug they're getting and what they need in the situation
that they are" Agus said.
"It's
predatory practice and it's inappropriate," he added.
The topic
entered the political debate on Monday, with Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton tweeting: "Price gouging like this in the specialty drug
market is outrageous."
Her rival
Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Shkreli demanding information on the price
increase and called the rate hike "...the latest in a long list of
skyrocketing price increases for certain critical medications."
Sanders and
Congressman Elijah Cummings have been
investigating drugs that have seen jumps in prices.
Suffice it to
say, Mr. Shkreli got the message. The 32-years-old has been called everything from a boy
genius to a vulture. Take your pick, but
one thing the wealthy Capitalist is not is slow on the uptick.
Turing’s increasing the
price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a pill represented an increase of over
5,500%. Democratic Presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton generously called that drug "price
gouging." OK, you knew
it was coming; that is ugly!
The Daily Beast declared
Shkreli the "most-hated man in America," surpassing the dentist who
killed Cecil the Lion.
Mr. Shkreli insists he has
heard the outcry.
"We've agreed to
lower the price of Daraprim to a price that is more affordable," Shkreli
said on ABC World News Tonight.
He didn't say what that
"affordable" price would be, but stressed that the company already
gives away the drug for free to about half the patients who use it and that
Turing plans to expand its charitable drug program.
In a somewhat ironic
confluence of circumstances, Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio), the former Cardinal
of Buenos Aires, and the 266th Roman Catholic Pope is visiting the
United States this week, week stops scheduled in Washington DC, Philadelphia,
and New York. While there is no real
expectation that Pope Francis will delve into or weigh in on Shkreli-gate, the
Pontiff is a well-known critic of Capitalism.
In fact, this Pope’s
Socialist posture, and his affinity for an array of issues including Climate
Change/Global Warming, Restoration of formal Cuban-American relations, abolition
of the death penalty, and a duty to the poor and marginalized has resulted in
many Conservative politicians, a number of whom are seeking the GOP Nomination
for the Presidency, to openly state their opposition to positions taken by the
Pope. This just heightens the irony for
a number of folks who happen to be Catholic, but do not bond with the 266th
Pope.
Neatly summarized, there you have it…”Capitalism:The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly!”
I’m done; holla back!
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Consult the links below for more detailed
information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/21/martin-shkreli-is-big-pharma-s-biggest-asshole.html
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