[scotty79]

> Most of the things we currently use were invented by businesses, or by someone who then started a business to sell it.

Yes. I don't say business is useless when it comes to research. Business is great at researching how to tune the production process so that the thing they went to produce is affordable for as many people as possible.

Every invention goes through business to reach you. But it usually starts at the university on in military research.

> Again, you're assuming the conclusion.

I don't think I do.

1. Companies fund research with selling drugs they invent.

2. Inventing drugs gets more expensive.

1 & 2 => drugs get more expensive.

[naasking]

> 2. Inventing drugs gets more expensive.

1. You're assuming drug research gets more expensive, but in some ways it actually becomes easier, ie. with better computers we can ensure some clinical trials have a higher success rate with computer modelling.

2. Your original claim was that they become unreasonably expensive, which is a stronger claim than just expensive. Furthermore, this expense would still be incurred by any other entity that does this research, so you're not saving anything in the end.

[scotty79]

1. I think I never seen any claim that inventing new drugs gets less expensive although I agree that's theoretically intermittently possible untill the fact that we are running out of substances to try overcomes cost benefits of given technological breakthrough.

2. If something gets constantly more expensive it will eventually become unreasonably expensive for any chosen definition of unreasonable. Unless general wealth of human race grows faster than cost of research which doesn't look plausible.

What I'm saying in the end is that the cost will be higher if the company is involved because companies are so risk averse that they demand insanely high potential rewards to take the risk. The other thing I'm saying is that if you are going to fund reserach with drug sales but in the end will have to subsidize drug buyers from taxes (because they can't afford meds) it may be just better to fund research from taxes directly and charge for drugs only as much as their manufacturing costs as it is now in case of generics.