All I see Democrats tweet about is abortion and insulin these days. Abortion isn’t going away. What the SCOTUS ruling did was give power back to the citizens so they could decide rather than a judge or a bunch of politicians in a back room.
Democrats love back rooms.
The $35 price ceiling on insulin will hurt the insulin market. There will be shortages like there are in baby formula now and there will be a black market. Price ceilings do that. The Democratic bill does nothing to increase the amount of competition among existing insulin producers nor does it make way for new entrants to the market. Democrats don’t understand how production and free markets interact.
I thought of that this morning when I was reading this Financial Times article about German Rieslings. There was a time when they were more prized than Bordeaux or Burgundy! Amazing.
I love wine. I love a great Riesling too. Sometimes nothing pairs better with a dish. Try it with fish or a nice sauerbraten.
What happened to the German Riesling industry?
Some government do-gooder decided they would change the regulations so that more riesling could be exported.
“A 1971 law, designed to aid mass producers in marketing their multi-grape plonk to less discerning consumers, helped make Liebfraumilch labels such as Blue Nun and Black Tower ubiquitous and German wine a byword for bargain bin fare. Previously prestigious Rheingau vineyards, struggling to differentiate their superior products, faced bankruptcy. “We ruined 100 years of reputation, which even two world wars had not managed to destroy,” Loosen said.”
No doubt, consumer tastes changed and the competition that got ramped up with the development of the California wine industry changed the scope of the marketplace as well. But, Mr. Government got involved. No doubt there was some lobbyist whispering in the ear about creating more jobs blah blah blah.
This is almost always the way with government intervention. When I mean almost always, let’s just estimate it as “the government is 95% wrong” when it enters a marketplace and tries to disrupt supply and demand.
What we have had this past month in Washington is a bunch of government do-gooders sticking their hands in the market. The Chip bill will do nothing except screw up the chip market. It’s a handout to Nancy Pelosi’s constituents.
The insulin price cap won’t help diabetics. It’s gonna kill some of them when they can’t get insulin or have to go to the black market to buy it.
Let's put a fine point on this.
1. This supposed cap is only for Medicare patients who take injected insulin which is about 20% of diabetics.
2. If you are not taking insulin via a shot, then you are taking an equally expensive medicine - likely metformin -- which is not impacted at all by this legislation.
When you dig into this, it is all eyewash and impacts a very small group of persons all of whom can get Medicate Part D which pays for their insulin anyway.
WTF?
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
#InsulinScam
Excellent article Jeff. I can't want to see what happens when an insulin shortage happens. And why does Intel need billions of dollars?