Matt Miazga playing for Alaves

agreed - only clowns believe in no government (they serve as the insurer of last resort and hopefully as sensible regulators - see China as an example of what happens to baby formula when there's no regulation). the issue to me is cronyism and socialized losses/privatized gains. ironically, it's the same issue that plagued communist countries.

the first thing the government should do is institute a Most Favored (among G13) Nations status with pharma companies. I don't think it'll drive drug prices down a lot for the US but it will drive costs up in other G13 countries as they are no longer able to free-ride on our drug spending.

 

No, it's not a potshot. It's pointing at one of the culprits of the way things went wrong in how businesses and especially businessmen behaved the last decades.
He was prominently on Dutch tv end 70ies, where his theories were unveiled. i didnot know that was because of him probably getting the Nobel Prize.
I then thought by myself that implementing his theories would make blood run in the streets, either by oppressors or by revolt.
I'm someone far more in the Samuelson camp.

Anyway, if that's your response, another veiled insult, on posted opinions that support what I claimed, and not refuting it one comes to the conclusion you can't.

 

Feck off, I was the one who delivered content about Matt when he was at Vitesse to his YA threads. So I'm interested how he's faring.
Shut the ******** up.

 

LOL - stick to soccer and keep any economics discussions to you little province in the Netherlands, which is the same economic size as Florida....

 

Another insult, but still no response that matters. Stick to what you do best ...blabla-ing

 

You just sound like Trvmp, insult after insult, but no substance.

 

Really shocking to see someone who in soccer matters is extremely contemptuous of people vilifying foreigners, vilifying a foreigner's right to critique economics.

 

I think you may have me dead to rights but frankly i'm tired of the US getting condescended to by that poster. I can take it wrt soccer cuz they are better than we are but I think it's bad form to troll other countries forums and talk smack constantly.

I'd also say that on BS, I'm most focused on treating dual Americans like the full Americans they are.

 

Understandable. And with no soccer being played we are certainly well off any reasonable bigsoccer topic for this forum and everyone is a bit on edge these days.

Personally, I think we can all learn from other countries both in soccer and far beyond. We do some things very well in the US, but we are severely lacking in others, including some major issues with our economic system down to the individual level. And yes, other countries can learn from the US as well. Soccer isn't the only place I feel learning from all available resources, both foreign and domestic, makes good sense.

 

Not sure how the attached paragraph, and Paul Krugman in particular, vindicates your sweeping vituperation. Back in the mid-90s Paul Krugman said of Friedman that he worked very hard to separate his academic work which made him "the economist's economist" - which was rigorous, disciplined and dispassionate - from his work as what Krugman brilliantly terms a "policy entrepreneur"- which wasn't. Krugman called that kind of stuff Peddling Prosperity in a book of that name, which is about 25 years old and as relevant now as it was then about the dangers of public policy makers looking for easy ways out and the intellectual sellouts of all stripes who offer them. Whatever your politics, the book is well worth reading.

 

Dutifully admonished.

 

things must be getting bad. Those two guys are usually quite reasonable. Hey Bungadiri, remember the good old days when you used to have to warn me?? Good times.

 

It makes no sense, and actually hurts US competitive advantage to have employment-tied health insurance.

Harder to start a business. Cost manufacturing more. Harder to move jobs (the main reason employers put up with it.)

If nothing else, that is the one thing the US should have, in some form.

Never understood how big biz didn't insist on it.

If you want to maintain worker loyalty, worker equity is the way to go.

 

I'm clearly overdue for happy hour. @feyenoordsoccerfan is welcome to join.

 

i agree that employment tied health insurance is a mistake (particularly as it's tax deductible) and am not against universal health care. The costs will be far higher in the US that in other countries (obesity and other poor health choices) and we will create waiting lists for care. That may be worth it.

 

Yup, you put the things that matter in each others perspective. No doubt Friedman was brilliant analist of the territory he covered, the monetary workings. However his combining that with ruthless capitalism or his work facilitating that without him stepping in to object to that has laid the foundation of what is wrong with capitalism in it's current form. His cosing up with dictators so he could have a kind of controlled environment to implement his views was disgusting.
As I posted my first impression of him wasnot good, but what he did afterwards with it made him to me the hate figure in the economic science.
Anyway, read the whole article I posted, not just the part I copied.
It wasnot intended as a whole support of my opinion on him, because that's an opinion based on what his doctrine and his personal behaviour has costed human beings. It was ment as an example of him later on not being worshipped as he had been in the 70ies and 80ies.

 

Wow talk about over the top reactions, why you going all Merica By gawd, on dude?

I say this as a right leaning southern country boy veteran.

I tried to stay out of this convo about labels, because labeling words don't quite seem mean what they used to anymore. That said, I believe it is worth noting that as policies go, the Netherlands has some of the most socialist policies of any country. There people usually poll as some of the happiest people anywhere in the world. Just food for thought.

I don't want to venture into this debate, I only wanted to appeal to civility and add some overlooked facts that I thought were material. even if we strongly disagree can we just play nice until lock down is in the rear view mirror.

 

Not to mention what the transition of the U.S. healthcare system to a M4A system will mean for the pharmaceutical industry. What does the pharmaceutical industry look like without the American cash cow? Europeans have benefited greatly in pharmaceutical advances largely paid for on the backs of Americans. They can thank us later.

 

I just had a discussion with someone in pharma over this. If/when the US makes the switch, these free-riding nations may not adhere to the increased pricing and may infringe upon the patent via in-country manufacturing of a knock-off product. It should still happen but the follow-on impact isn't clear.

 

Seems like a M4A system is inevitable to me at this point. The question is how long until we see it in the United States.

Countries could steal the pharma companies intellectual property but I was thinking when the U.S. goes to M4A and negotiates drug prices like the European do what will the impact be on the pharmaceutical industry? It stands to reason without the highly profitable American market, really the only highly profitable market, the pharmaceutical industry will shrink considerably and once it does, the R&D it does will shrink with it... which is bad for humanity even if it is good for the common American. M4A for Americans is bad news for everyone else.

 

I doubt any of this happens.

Who thinks the wealthy, or even somewhat flush of the world will forgo research into cutting edge medicine because "M4A?"

Ain't happening.

The system will adapt. People like to stay alive.

 

There's something intrinsically wrong with the fact that companies can discover life-saving treatments and patent them and sell them for a big price, even if their lack of accessibility causes the death of many.

I understand the logic, that competition and wealth-acquisition is the best motivator for us to excel, but there is something that doesn't click there. What a rotten animal we must be if we're willing to let many others like us die just because we need to profit from our hard work. Something like that.

Then we have something like free & open-source software (FOSS). Which advances much faster than closed-source does. In fact, closed-source keeps 'borrowing' ideas from open source, making them a bit more user friendly, and putting a price on it.

It's as if we were diverging into two sub-species: Homo sapiens participes & H. sapiens commodus. The latter needs large personal benefit to excel, while the former prefers for the entire species to benefit, happy with that benefit also trickling to them.

Now, with all sports suspended, I'm avidly following the Top Chess Engine Tournament, where the Elo rating is in the 3400 to 3900 range (no human has ever scored over 2900). One of the two engines playing the superfinal is FOSS: Stockfish. In fact, many have copied from it. With a gazillion people contributing, the ideas merge and improve it constantly.

Then, others produce derived engines and put a copyright on them. Those engines never last long at the top, since their rate of improvement is a fraction of the FOSS one. Imagine if we did that in science, medicine, engineering, and all forms of tech!

 

Not mention the "patent" system is predatory, allows claiming as IP things that companies really have no right to "claim" (even if patents/IP ownership is considered ok in the abstract.)

There are a lot of places that one should legitimately be rewarded for IP, especially if it took risk, working for free/low wages, extremely clever leaps of understanding etc to launch/discover/create that IP, but there is way too much "patent raiding" and "claiming" of stuff that has long existed after making only minor adjustments. Too much IP/Patent real estate is the result of clever/ruthless lawyers, not actual Intellectual work the created valuable Property.