June 10, 2021

10 Junio 2021

If we take the car story out of the picture, there is not much of a story of run-away inflation. We will see more erratic price movements as the economy continues to reopen.

• COVID-19Coronavirus

WaPo’s New Terminology to Appease the Trumpers: Are Drunk Driving Laws Government “Preferences?”

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 08, 2021

08 Junio 2021

The vaccine requirement is a safety regulation, designed to protect crew and other passengers from the risk of catching the Covid.

• Globalization and TradeGlobalización y comercioInequalityLa Desigualdad

Can We Bemoan Inequality as We Push Policies to Increase It?

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 07, 2021

07 Junio 2021

Instead of US companies like GE and Walmart benefiting from cheap Chinese labor, our leading tech companies are worried about going head-to-head with more efficient Chinese competitors.

• Intellectual PropertyPropiedad Intelectual

Patents Are a Bad Way to Fund the Development of Drugs #46,541

June 07, 2021

07 Junio 2021

The New York Times reported on the decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug aducanumab, as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. According to the piece, it is the first new treatment for the disease in almost two decades.

As the article makes clear, there is no consensus in the scientific community about the effectiveness of the drug. The clinical trials for the drug were not conclusive, according to several experts cited in the piece, and the drug has harmful side effects, the risk of which can easily outweigh any potential benefits.

As the piece points out, the drugs manufacturer Biogen, stands to make billions of dollars from aducanumab. This gives it a strong incentive to overstate the benefits and downplay the risks. This means that it may pay physicians and patient advocacy groups to promote the drug. (I’m one of those old-fashioned economists who believe that people respond to incentives.)

If the government did not rely on patent monopolies to finance the development of drugs, it would mean that no one would have the same sort of incentive to push drugs that are not safe and effective.

The New York Times reported on the decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug aducanumab, as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. According to the piece, it is the first new treatment for the disease in almost two decades.

As the article makes clear, there is no consensus in the scientific community about the effectiveness of the drug. The clinical trials for the drug were not conclusive, according to several experts cited in the piece, and the drug has harmful side effects, the risk of which can easily outweigh any potential benefits.

As the piece points out, the drugs manufacturer Biogen, stands to make billions of dollars from aducanumab. This gives it a strong incentive to overstate the benefits and downplay the risks. This means that it may pay physicians and patient advocacy groups to promote the drug. (I’m one of those old-fashioned economists who believe that people respond to incentives.)

If the government did not rely on patent monopolies to finance the development of drugs, it would mean that no one would have the same sort of incentive to push drugs that are not safe and effective.

• COVID-19CoronavirusInequalityLa DesigualdadIntellectual PropertyPropiedad Intelectual

Patent Monopolies and Inequality: When We Give Rich People Money, Why Does Inequality Surprise Us?

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 06, 2021

06 Junio 2021

The great fortunes created by patent and copyright monopolies go well beyond the current crop of Covid vaccine billionaires.

• COVID-19CoronavirusIntellectual PropertyPropiedad Intelectual

Does the New York Times Prohibit Its Reporters from Mentioning China’s Vaccines?

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 06, 2021

06 Junio 2021

Ignoring China's vaccines in the context of vaccinating the world is truly bizarre.

• Economic Crisis and RecoveryCrisis económica y recuperación

It’s Cheap Fun Saturday: Job Growth Under Biden and Trump

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 05, 2021

05 Junio 2021

I know this sort of comparison is silly, but . . .

• BudgetGovernmentEl GobiernoUnited StatesEE. UU.

The CEPR “It’s the Budget, Stupid” Budget Calculator — Because Size Matters

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 03, 2021

03 Junio 2021

Almost no one has any sense of what’s big and what’s small in the budget because the numbers are standardly reported as millions, billions, or trillions, with no context whatsoever.

• InequalityLa Desigualdad

Profit Share of Corporate Income Falls In Pandemic

By Dean BakerDean Baker

June 01, 2021

01 Junio 2021

In spite of the high unemployment in 2020, the wage share actually rose slightly.

China’s Demographic Crisis

By Dean BakerDean Baker

May 31, 2021

31 Mayo 2021

Even modest rates of productivity growth will easily offset the impact of a declining ratio of workers to retirees that China is expecting over the next quarter century.