Recently I watched a physicist on TV say that fish and birds on other planets would look the same as they do here because the physics of movement would be the same — even if the underlying biology might be very different. A while back I watched a show on chemistry — and wondered if God did an economic “sneaky” by including silver and gold in the table of elements: both naturally attractive, the more attractive being less obtainable. What else could have filled the need for a medium of exchange in early economies just so perfectly?
Now, it occurs to me that silver and gold is probably the medium of exchange in economies all over the universe. 🙂
Sovaldi, the $84,000 cure (90+%) for Hepatitis C. Early research got along on government grants — until researchers smelled money; then looked for private investment. Success: planned sell for $350 a pill but Gilead Sciences “gambled” and paid Pharmasset $11 billion for it, thinking of $1000 a pill …
… enough to cost $300 million if all patients get treatment (70% will develop liver symptoms) — as much as all other prescriptions cost combined. Pharmasset would only have charged $100 billion.
Got to read Medical News Today — multiple stories of progress daily — medical knowledge doubles every two years. Will we rejoice if and when these treatments and dozens of others work out — or will these be more causes of anxiety about how we as a nation are supposed to pay the extortionate rates of multiple medical monopolists?
Antibiotics Against Superbugs
One line of research our super-overpaid scientists ($440 million personally to the chief scientist who discovered Sovaldi) don’t trouble themselves to pursue is new anti-biotics — seems the bugs develop resistance too fast and then the money dries up too soon. Welcome back to 1935. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/292848.php
I made a big goof above: it is $300 BILLION to cover all Hep-C patients with Solvadi — as much as all other prescriptions together.
BTW, I’ve seen a report that the vertical lift off version of the F-35 cannot lift off with a weapons load or even a heavy fuel load — only a light fuel load so it can move to someplace with a runway. What a useless vertical lift capability. Is that so we can move the F-35s out of the secret caves we are hiding them in?
I’ve read we are supposed to spend $400 billion dollars on new fighter planes (more than on Solvadi!). Didn’t we just build 5,000 F-14s, F-15s, F-16s and F-18s during the Cold War — back when the Russkies had 180 tank divisions and 10 airborne divisions and (doubtful?) Warsaw Pact allies. Now, they are down to about 10 combat ready divisions and no friends. Who are we supposed to be fighting with all these planes?
The sum of unit price of F-35 including more than $100B in R&D for the untestable dog adds up to $400B, then 35 years of trying to fix it will cost another $1000B in 2013 USD. $1400B through life costs!
What are “we” going to shoot at?
Won’t be Putins that would go nuclear. Likely be our jets bombing for al Qaeda with the Saudis as in Yemen, while we would be with Iran to keep Iraq from going to Iran……
Then US would get involved with ASEAN to tilt with China who has all the cards in east Asia.
The short takeoff vertical landing STOVL F-35 needs a long run to take off with any fuel, it is a skip jet that can land almost straight down, if it works.
The amphibs which carry F-35 are 60000 ton matches for what everyone else calls arcraft carriers.
While they can haul less than a WW I battalion of riflemen!
US’ “peer adversaries” are fiction made up to sell “wingnut welfare”; spending on arms taking productivity and infrastructure away from a chance for a civil society..
[in answer to corp buy backs… you see that’s how it works. run the prices up to get everyone to “invest” then pull the plug and when the price drops buy the real property back. been pretty much the Rule of finance for a few hundred years at least. now you know.
as for the interest, you’d have to ask Lambert, though I won’t like his answer. seems to me a “free market” in interest would balance the demand for money with the supply of money, but when the banks don’t want to lend because they don’t trust each other (playing fraud games just like they do) and the economy goes to hell, no one can demand money because they can’t sell anything (no need to build business or inventory) so the price of money will stay low even though, oddly, the supply of money is being restricted. leaving, of course, ordinary savers, with no place better than under the mattress to keep their savings, while real inflation marches on.
need to stop my rant there. if i have a point its that what is going on doesn’t have much in common with “standard economic models.” which rarely, so far as i have heard, include the fraud factor by the big money interests.
Interstellar bimetallism?
Recently I watched a physicist on TV say that fish and birds on other planets would look the same as they do here because the physics of movement would be the same — even if the underlying biology might be very different. A while back I watched a show on chemistry — and wondered if God did an economic “sneaky” by including silver and gold in the table of elements: both naturally attractive, the more attractive being less obtainable. What else could have filled the need for a medium of exchange in early economies just so perfectly?
Now, it occurs to me that silver and gold is probably the medium of exchange in economies all over the universe. 🙂
If we are going to rely on God, then there is no other life in the universe.
Sovaldi, the $84,000 cure (90+%) for Hepatitis C. Early research got along on government grants — until researchers smelled money; then looked for private investment. Success: planned sell for $350 a pill but Gilead Sciences “gambled” and paid Pharmasset $11 billion for it, thinking of $1000 a pill …
… enough to cost $300 million if all patients get treatment (70% will develop liver symptoms) — as much as all other prescriptions cost combined. Pharmasset would only have charged $100 billion.
Alzheimer’s: new ultrasound technique ‘restores memory’ in mice
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290801.php
Nanoparticles that ferry dopamine to the brain offer potential Parkinson’s treatment
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/292848.php
Got to read Medical News Today — multiple stories of progress daily — medical knowledge doubles every two years. Will we rejoice if and when these treatments and dozens of others work out — or will these be more causes of anxiety about how we as a nation are supposed to pay the extortionate rates of multiple medical monopolists?
Antibiotics Against Superbugs
One line of research our super-overpaid scientists ($440 million personally to the chief scientist who discovered Sovaldi) don’t trouble themselves to pursue is new anti-biotics — seems the bugs develop resistance too fast and then the money dries up too soon. Welcome back to 1935.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/292848.php
Meanwhile back on the farm, Bloomberg:
“since 2007, the cost of brand name medicines has soared with prices doubling for dozens of established drugs that target everything from multiple sclerosis to cancer, blood pressure and even erectile dysfunction.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-05-08/why-prescription-drug-prices-keep-rising-higher
Time to break the medical monopolies anyone?
Opps
Antibiotics Against Superbugs
https://thebrowser.com/articles/antibiotics-against-superbugs/
yeah, but i love scientists. imagine, the physics of movement being the same and all, (is why) fish and birds look so much alike.
Coberly,
Sounds like a pretty boring universe out there. Maybe they’ve figured that out; maybe that’s why they haven’t come here.
And so on, and so on
Scientists ‘incredibly excited’ by asthma treatment breakthrough
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/292947.php
$300M for Solvadi for all Hep C patients!
That is less than the price 2 of the 57 F-35’s, which have not passed many staged lab “tests”, being ordered this fiscal year.
The F-35 don’t work and when the generals retire A-10 soldiers will die waiting for shoddy support from the useless F-35.
So Us can bomb for the Sunnis who brought you 9/11.
Saudis bombing in Yemen for al Qaeda to advance against the Shiite!
I made a big goof above: it is $300 BILLION to cover all Hep-C patients with Solvadi — as much as all other prescriptions together.
BTW, I’ve seen a report that the vertical lift off version of the F-35 cannot lift off with a weapons load or even a heavy fuel load — only a light fuel load so it can move to someplace with a runway. What a useless vertical lift capability. Is that so we can move the F-35s out of the secret caves we are hiding them in?
I’ve read we are supposed to spend $400 billion dollars on new fighter planes (more than on Solvadi!). Didn’t we just build 5,000 F-14s, F-15s, F-16s and F-18s during the Cold War — back when the Russkies had 180 tank divisions and 10 airborne divisions and (doubtful?) Warsaw Pact allies. Now, they are down to about 10 combat ready divisions and no friends. Who are we supposed to be fighting with all these planes?
US is its own and only “peer adversary”.
The sum of unit price of F-35 including more than $100B in R&D for the untestable dog adds up to $400B, then 35 years of trying to fix it will cost another $1000B in 2013 USD. $1400B through life costs!
What are “we” going to shoot at?
Won’t be Putins that would go nuclear. Likely be our jets bombing for al Qaeda with the Saudis as in Yemen, while we would be with Iran to keep Iraq from going to Iran……
Then US would get involved with ASEAN to tilt with China who has all the cards in east Asia.
The short takeoff vertical landing STOVL F-35 needs a long run to take off with any fuel, it is a skip jet that can land almost straight down, if it works.
The amphibs which carry F-35 are 60000 ton matches for what everyone else calls arcraft carriers.
While they can haul less than a WW I battalion of riflemen!
US’ “peer adversaries” are fiction made up to sell “wingnut welfare”; spending on arms taking productivity and infrastructure away from a chance for a civil society..
As long as big numbers are getting thrown around how about this one: $1 Trillion…
This is what corporations are estimated to have spent on stock buybacks in the last year. http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/us-corporations-spent-1-trillion-stock-buybacks-5737
Why does conventional wisdom ignore this corruption? How will ongoing low interest regimes facilitate investment in actual business opportunities?
Yes. And thanks for your help.
[in answer to corp buy backs… you see that’s how it works. run the prices up to get everyone to “invest” then pull the plug and when the price drops buy the real property back. been pretty much the Rule of finance for a few hundred years at least. now you know.
as for the interest, you’d have to ask Lambert, though I won’t like his answer. seems to me a “free market” in interest would balance the demand for money with the supply of money, but when the banks don’t want to lend because they don’t trust each other (playing fraud games just like they do) and the economy goes to hell, no one can demand money because they can’t sell anything (no need to build business or inventory) so the price of money will stay low even though, oddly, the supply of money is being restricted. leaving, of course, ordinary savers, with no place better than under the mattress to keep their savings, while real inflation marches on.
need to stop my rant there. if i have a point its that what is going on doesn’t have much in common with “standard economic models.” which rarely, so far as i have heard, include the fraud factor by the big money interests.