Monday, June 22, 2009

Report from the Fascism Front

Here's yet another instance of the creeping fascism/statism underway in our economy. In order to convince skeptical lawmakers of its "devotion" to lowering medical costs, big Pharma is going to discount the price of medicare prescriptions (to the cheers of the Obama Administration) by $80B over the next decade. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) will join in the chorus of applause at a White House ceremony, all of it neat and tidy. This looks and sounds wonderful to many, but it is just the latest example of collusion between the government and industry that should be called by its proper name....fascism.

Jonah Goldberg and Amity Schlaes have both covered this ground wonderfully. All of this seemingly altruistic price cutting and corporate cooperation should more properly be viewed as craven conspiracy to protect market share and stifle competition. Who benefits? Government and business. Who suffers? Consumers.

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 22, 2009

    I trust in the Ministry of Plenty.

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  2. Marcus Garvey, MDJune 22, 2009

    I hope these moves don't impact the supply of 24 year old, silicone enhanced pharma-barbies showing up at my office.

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  3. Fascism is so widely defined. I suppose one could cobble together enough evidence from either of our political parties to make the case. I get the "trust us, we know what's good for you" vibe from both camps.

    ReplyDelete