OUR PRICE SYSTEM: A N0-HOLDS-BARRED SYSTEM

[Johnny Holiday/John A. Taube]

OUR PRICE SYSTEM: A N0-HOLDS-BARRED SYSTEM

Letter to the Editor
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Fax: 415.543.7708
San Francisco, California

Dear Editor:

We live in a "no-holds-barred" socioeconomic structure, a "Price
System," and articles in your paper are an excellent source of reference
material. My thoughts reflect a background in Technocracy Inc., a
scientific, educational-research organization.

Lead article, page one, January 17, 2000 "Merger Creates Largest Drug
Firm." The next day, page two was on the same subject  "Drug Mergers May
Be Bitter Pill to Consumers."

The second article started by asserting  that because of current mergers
“fewer and fewer titans will dominate the treatment of major health
problems.” Gone are titans that could not “cut the mustard” and this is
leading to higher prices for consumers. The article also included the
thought that as companies get bigger, “they will have the clout to push
out smaller competitors that don't have the money to market their
medicines effectively to physicians and consumers,” thereby having a
free hand in controlling prices. One doesn't need to be a rocket
scientists to figure out "controlling prices" can be reworded "raising
prices."

One other point of the article  is worthy of attention. The article
states that “only by bulking up to pool research-and-development funds
and by slashing costs can pharmaceutical firms avoid financial peril in
an ever-more Darwinian market.”

In that this point is incomplete it blurs an understanding of the
overall problem created by these medical mergers. It should  have
included: In this ever-more Darwinian market,  the end result is fewer
and fewer medical titans who have greater and greater power to raise
prices.

Don’t  jump to the conclusion that this piece will be a diatribe
demanding that we put the breaks on the  wealthy, powerful titans; it’s
not meant to be that. The classification of people known as “liberals”
launch such diatribes. Members of Technocracy do not. We find that these
titans are playing the game of our socioeconomic structure, our Price
System, and in the  "no-holds-barred" procedure, they are to be admired
for sticking to their guns and grabbing all they can get.

However, let me hasten to add that Technocracy finds this whole Price
System to be totally out of sync with modern times, our
scientific-technological age. As a matter of fact continuing with this
obsolete Price System puts us on a suicidal course.

Technocracy proposes that we initiate a social structure that is laid
out to be compatible with modern times and suggests we install its
Technological Social Design as it fits modern day requirements. Ample
literature is available for one to make a comprehensive study.

Sincerely,

John A. Taube