Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world’s poor
In a major change of strategy, the new head of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, has told the Guardian he will slash prices on all medicines in the poorest countries, give back profits to be spent on hospitals and clinics and – most ground-breaking of all – share knowledge about potential drugs that are currently protected by patents.
Witty says he believes drug companies have an obligation to help the poor get treatment. He challenges other pharmaceutical giants to follow his lead.
…
He said that GSK will:
• Cut its prices for all drugs in the 50 least developed countries to no more than 25% of the levels in the UK and US – and less if possible – and make drugs more affordable in middle-Âincome countries such as Brazil and India.
• Put any chemicals or processes over which it has intellectual property rights that are relevant to finding drugs for neglected diseases into a “patent pool”, so they can be explored by other researchers.
• Reinvest 20% of any profits it makes in the least developed countries in hospitals, clinics and staff.
• Invite scientists from other companies, NGOs or governments to join the hunt for tropical disease treatments at its dedicated institute at Tres Cantos, Spain.
The extent of the changes Witty is setting in train is likely to stun drug company critics and other pharmaceutical companies, who risk being left exposed.
This is a good move by GSK.
Related: Shop Around for Drugs – Traveling To Avoid USA Health Care Costs – International Development Fair: The Human Factor
China and USA exports and imports have been dropping sharply. The USA has decreased the excess consumption over production by $20 billion a month (from $60B to $40B monthly deficit). China maintains a trade surplus and as imports drop faster than export this is actually increasing on a percentage basis.
Can the improvement in the US trade balance continue?
…
Deficits and surpluses are shrinking globally now that the price of oil is at levels that roughly cover the oil exporters imports.* Right now China’s (growing) surplus is clearly the main counterpart to the United States’ (shrinking) deficit.
It is hard to put lipstick on a pig (or even an ox):
Related: The Budget Deficit, the Current Account Deficit and the Saving Deficit – Top 12 Manufacturing Countries in 2007 – Personal Saving and Personal Debt in the USA – Charge It to My Kids
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative by Fareed Zakaria
…
Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1.
…
Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America’s by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; “healthy life expectancy” is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America’s largest car-producing region.
Related: Canadian Banks Avoid Failures Common Elsewhere – International Health Care System Performance – Greenspan Says He Was Wrong On Regulation
I am glad to be hosting the 50th edition of the Money Hacks Carnival. There really are a ton of great post on money hacks for your personal finances. I have highlighted some of my favorites from the last week. New visitors to the Curious Cat Economics and Investing Blog may be interested in some of past personal finance posts.
I have included snippets from a some highlighted posts which illustrate the great number of thoughtful individuals writing blogs about how to manage your money more effectively and the economic conditions that impact each of our personal financial lives.
- Patrick, with Military Finance Network, wrote Refund Anticipation Loans are Horrible – “is often near 99% APR or higher. Some Refund Anticipation Loans may cost the consumer up to 30% or more of their total tax return.” [He is exactly right, avoid being hacked out of your money by slick marketing of personal loans – John Hunter, Curious Cat].
- Peter wrote, The Best Decision Doesn’t Always Make The Most Financial Sense: “What I’ve learned through this process is that to succeed financially you have to be willing to make careful decisions about where you’re headed, and realize that success doesn’t always mean making the most logical choice. Sometimes it means taking into account the psychology and human elements of the equation. Only when you do that will you truly be able to make the best decisions for you and your family.”
- An Interview with Larry Winget – “If having a financially secure future is the most important thing to you, then that is where your money will go. Stop saying what is important to you and instead investigate the truth by tracking your spending.”
- Dan, Darwin’s Finance, wrote Generation Debt: Our Children will Hate Us – “We continued to spend like there was no tomorrow. Individual, national and local debt soared to heights that were unsustainable.”
- Mara Rogers, Secrets for Money, presents Another Type of Wealth: Pay It Forward and Random Acts of Kindness – “Your generosity can be shown in a very small and impulsive action such as paying someone a compliment, yet it will still have a very large positive impact on the other person, and typically results in a “ripple effect” of that person then being inspired to help another person.”
- Danelle Ice wrote, College Costs Are Rising: Save Now With an Education Savings Account (ESA) – “According to the College Cost Calculator on AmericanFunds.com, it will cost $168,395 to send our daughter to The University of Texas at Austin starting in 2026 for four years. This calculation is based on a 5% inflation rate.”.
- Patrick, Cash Money Life, wrote, How to Save Money on Your Homeowner’s Insurance Rates: 1) shop Around… 2) Increase Your Deductible… 3) Combine your homeowners and auto insurance policies…
- Dorian Wales presents Behavioral Finance in Everyday Life – The Lottery as a Case Study – “Lottery has been deemed a tax on stupidity for a good reason. Every smart and aware consumer knows better than to throw money away on odds smaller than those of getting hit by lightning 3 times in a row.”
Income
Using money and budgeting
- A Simple Budget That Works?.
- Teaching Kids to Spend Their Money Smartly by Dana
- Reduce Spending without Sacrificing Lifestyle #1 – Eliminate Waste
- Given a choice – money provides choices
- Do It Yourself Debt Consolidation by Pinyo
- Double Dipping Your Social Security Benefits by Junior Boomer
- Finding New Mountains to Climb – what to do once you are out of debt
- Can You Find Painless Ways to Cut Your Budget?
Apartment Rents Fall, Vacancies at 4-Year High
…
Asking rents fell 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, to $1,052 on average, their first quarter-to-quarter decline in almost six years. They rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier. Effective rents, what tenants actually paid, fell to an average $996 last quarter, down 0.4 percent from the prior quarter and up 2.2 percent from a year earlier.
U.S. rental market set to slow down amid housing glut
Anthony De Silva said he was not happy that he had become a landlord. He bought a two-bedroom condominium 18 months ago on the ocean in Hollywood, Florida, expecting to sell at a $100,000 profit. Instead, he is now looking for tenants at $1,700 a month.
…
“Increasing vacancies does not bode well for rental incomes,” said Nabil El-Hage, a professor at Harvard Business School. “We’ve seen a softening in apartment REITs as a result.”
So for renters nationwide this is one possible silver lining to the current economic crisis. Granted not a large one but in these times any good news is worth appreciating. For real estate investors the news is not as good. The Washington DC market is forecast to go against the trend for reduced rents in 2009.
According to Marus and Millichap, Metrowide vacancy is expected to rise 60 basis points this year to 6.5 percent. Asking rents are projected to advance 3.1 percent to $1,410 per month in 2009, while effective rents increase 2.8 percent to $1,351 per month. Rent growth will lag slightly in Suburban Maryland. Of the 43 rental market they track they project San Francisco to see the largest increases in rent in 2009, followed by San Diego and Washington DC.
Related: Home Values and Rental Rates – Rent Controls are Unwise – posts on housing – How Walkable is Your Prospective Neighborhood