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I OWN WARNER CHILCOTT!

2011-01-26 · John · watch on YouTube · Economics · explainer learning

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

Answering Hank's drug-price video, John buys Warner Chilcott stock to show that the company works for its shareholders, and argues that free markets, good at much, fail at health care, so the US needs universal health insurance for its economy's sake.

What is said

00:00:00 — Recap of Hank's Monday video; John 'emails the CEO' to praise him

  • ★★ John recaps Hank's Monday video: Warner Chilcott, maker of Asacol HD, the drug that keeps Hank well enough to work, raised its price overnight and without warning by more than 1200%. — 00:00:00 · Hank Green
  • ★ The description gives a link where viewers can contact Warner Chilcott. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ As Hank asked, John emailed Warner Chilcott's CEO Roger Boissonneault, ironically to tell him he is doing a fantastic job. (satire) — 00:00:11

00:00:21 — John buys 100 Warner Chilcott shares: the CEO works for him; the website leads with the stock price

  • ★★★ John buys 100 shares of Warner Chilcott stock as the market opens, making him one two-millionth owner of 'the company that's ruining your life'. (playful) — 00:00:21
  • ★★★ The CEO does not work for Hank or other people with ulcerative colitis but for shareholders like John; his business is a return on John's investment, not supplying Hank with Asacol. (playful) — 00:00:30
  • ★★ Warner Chilcott's webpage puts the stock price above the drugs and company news, and the site is at wcrx.com, its stock symbol, not warnerchilcott.com. — 00:00:38

00:00:57 — John is a capitalist who believes in markets but not unregulated ones

  • ★★★ John, a self-described capitalist, believes free and open markets yield better, cheaper goods, but not in unregulated markets: Walmart should not be allowed to sell highly enriched uranium. — 00:00:57 > «I am a capitalist»
  • ★ The free market is really good at things like pricing airfare and fueling innovation such as wireless phone calls, John says. — 00:01:12

00:01:20 — Markets can't do pharma: malaria vs baldness pills, R&D for lucrative drugs, $50 then $620 like a first free rock

  • ★★★ There are some things markets can't do, and the pharmaceutical industry is a great example, John argues. — 00:01:20
  • ★★★ John says Hank would probably choose a pill curing malaria over one curing male pattern baldness, malaria being possibly the biggest drag on world economic productivity; the market sees only baldness riches. (hedged) — 00:01:23
  • ★★★ Pharmaceutical companies truly put profits back into research and development, John says, but into lucrative drugs, not drugs that maximize the overall health of the world. — 00:01:55
  • ★★★ Warner Chilcott offered Hank its drug for $50 a month, then raised it to $620, which John likens to crack dealers' first free rock and musicians' free downloads: maximize customers, then profit. (playful) — 00:02:11

00:02:26 — Desperate customers can't negotiate; Asacol is cheaper in Canada

  • ★★★ Because patients without a gastrointestinal anti-inflammatory might die, they are super-motivated customers who cannot negotiate fairly with Warner Chilcott. (playful) — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Asacol is much less expensive in Canada, where Warner Chilcott negotiates with the entire population rather than with individuals, John says. — 00:02:42 · Canada

00:02:50 — Free markets fail at health care; the US needs universal health insurance for the economy; Warner Chilcott can go Warner Chilcott itself; sign-off

  • ★★★ The free market fails miserably at efficient, inexpensive, effective health care: that buying Warner Chilcott stock is the rational response to its price hike shows the market does not incentivize good health. — 00:02:50
  • ★★★ The real reason the US needs universal health insurance with good drug coverage is economic: a healthier workforce spending on innovation rather than Asacol will benefit the American economy. — 00:03:13 · United States
  • ★★ Speaking as an owner, John says that if Warner Chilcott can't deliver real drugs at fairly negotiated prices, it can 'go Warner Chilcott itself'. (joke) — 00:03:24

Humor (significant)

  • John explains why the drug company is ruining Hank's life: its CEO doesn't work for patients with ulcerative colitis. — 00:00:30 > «He works for me!»
  • John, a capitalist, explains he doesn't believe in unregulated free markets. — 00:01:09 > «I don't believe that Wal-Mart should be allowed to sell highly enriched Uranium»
  • Malaria is possibly the single biggest suck on world economic productivity. — 00:01:34 > «Aside from perhaps Call of Duty.»
  • Speaking as an owner, John says if Warner Chilcott can't deliver real drugs at fair prices... — 00:03:24 > «then it can go Warner-Chilcot itself»

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