An Economist for Our Times: An Interview with William Lazonick

This in-depth interview with AIRnet President William Lazonick by Marie Carpenter and Mustafa Erdem Sakinç, published in the esteemed journal Revue de la régulation, explores his extensive contributions to the field of economics. From his early research on the British…

‘Shareholder value’ versus the public good: the case of Germany

“With uncertainty around the world about how and when the coronavirus outbreak will decelerate, whole business sectors have been affected by lockdowns and are facing ruin. In Germany, more than 750,000 companies have put over 12 million employees on reduced working…

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4 Ways to Eradicate the Corporate Disease That is Worsening the Covid-19 Pandemic

“It’s time for business executives, employees, and taxpayers to come together to help get us out of the pandemic and create conditions for a sustainable and equitable future Here are the key ways to respond to the coronavirus crisis and…

US Pharma’s Financialized Business Model

By William Lazonick, Matt Hopkins, Ken Jacobson, Mustafa Erdem Sakinç and Öner Tulum ◊ Price gouging in the US pharmaceutical drug industry goes back more than three decades. In 1985 US Representative Henry Waxman, chair of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, accused the pharmaceutical industry of “gouging the American public” with “outrageous” price increases, driven by “greed on a massive scale.” Even in the wake of the many Congressional inquiries that have taken place since the 1980s, including one inspired by the extortionate prices that Gilead Sciences has placed on its Hepatitis-C drugs Sovaldi since 2013 and Harvoni since 2014, the US government has not seen fit to regulate drug prices. UK Prescription Price Regulation Scheme data for 1996 through 2010 show that, while drug prices in other advanced nations were close to the UK’s regulated prices, those in the United States were between 74 percent and 181 percent higher.