[lelandfe]

Yeah. It seems the difference here is (supposedly) this sentiment:

> "People always ask, well why didn't somebody do this before? The reality is there's so much money there, it's hard not to be greedy," Mr. Cuban said

> "But I won't. I've got enough money. I'd rather f— up the drug industry in every way possible."

[ipaddr]

For a person with enough money he seems to work harder than he should to obtain more and more.

[csdvrx]

> For a person with enough money he seems to work harder than he should to obtain more and more.

Some people like to max their points in videogames. Other like to max their $ in real life.

The beauty of capitalism is that the effort of the latter end up benefiting us all.

[ipaddr]

He can't say I have enough points I don't need anymore. Use my high points as a reason to trust me that I will make less points than others if you shop here.

I also spend all of my time and energy trying to get more points.

[LordDragonfang]

>The beauty of capitalism is that the effort of the latter end up benefiting us all.

There are countless examples of that not being the case. At best, it benefits some other people most of the time and, arguably most people only some of the time.

Keep in mind that all of the current issues with US healthcare are also caused by individuals trying to maximize their personal dollars - at the expense of the general public.

[friedturkey]

Capitalism is what got America into its health care mess. Other countries aren't paying thousands for simple pills or insulin.

[adventured]

When has the US had a Capitalist market for healthcare?

The US has a particularly horrible hyper regulated, government shielded, cartel-based healthcare system and has for decades - the time during which its healthcare costs have skyrocketed out of control.

The US could hardly be further away from Capitalism in how its healthcare system is structured.

[friedturkey]

If you really think dropping regulations and making it a free for all for multi-billion dollar corporations to fiddle with our health would improve anything, you're simply lying lol

Countries with more regulation and more control by the state have... prices that are a fraction of the US. Surprise. Just like countries with stricter environmental restrictions have fewer clear-cut forests, less polluted water, etc. Unbridled capitalism means more money at the top at the cost of everyone else. There's a balance to be found between making money and having some restraints.

[s1artibartfast]

The US has a ton of regulations that other countries don't. It tries to regulate interactions between all kinds of private companies that don't even exist in other markets. It has tougher standards restricting the supply of health care workers, preventing new hospitals from competing on price, and preventing new generics from entering the market. Also a vast amount of regulation around coupling health insurance to employers.

Most of these regulations don't exist in countries because there are top down price negotiations and/or universal healthcare.

The US regulation is the worst of both worlds.

[csdvrx]

> Countries with more regulation and more control by the state have... prices that are a fraction of the US.

Funny enough, the quality and ease of access (delays for procedures etc) also "are a fraction of the US"

[LordDragonfang]

Having government regulations doesn't make something not capitalist. Capitalism is defined by an economic system where you can profit off of simply owning Capital (i.e. the means of production) without having to work it.

Per Wikipedia:

> Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private property, property rights recognition, voluntary exchange, and wage labor.

All of these things are true of the US healthcare market.

[bushbaba]

It’s not capitalist. Heck try even getting a price quote online for a pharmaceutical drug. Oh wait you can’t as “it depends”.

Why the government hasn’t stepped in, is pure corruption.

[friedturkey]

I mean, you said the government not stepping in is the problem, and the source of that problem is money...

That's just what capitalism is. There is no ideal world where people max out their earnings and say "haha i'll be a friendly competitor and work for the benefit of the people :))))". People with vested interests will always push for less regulation, and the consequence of a successful push is never "everyone is better off and paying less!" Other developed countries have more regulation and lower prices. That's simply a fact.

[csdvrx]

> "But I won't. I've got enough money. I'd rather f— up the drug industry in every way possible."

I like that sentiment!

I also like it's coming from a capitalist VC, with a profit incentive!

And I love I won't have to bother with insurance and stuff: yes, I could save $5 here and there, but no, I don't really care, and I'm not sure it's worth dealing with the insurance company who'll gather the information and look for various creative ways to compile and use the information against their clients (say, if you take tobacco cessation drugs, birth control, etc)

Yes, I know there are various laws on the books that in theory protect patients against that, but as we've seen with the consequences for say Experian data leaks, the reputational risk for Cuban himself look like a much stronger incentive that for say, Walmart or Costco or whatever company doesn't bear the investor name.

So I think Cuban will have my business!