VW's diesel scandal and Shkreli's drug price-gouging

More of the same - this week was not exactly ethical capitalism's (if such a thing exists) finest hour:

VW may have to pay fines in the billions for deceiving pollution monitors and violating the Clean Air Act with their TDI "clean diesel" vehicles (stock plunged 20% in response). Apparently it's not so easy for a diesel engine to be both clean burning AND great mileage.

There is a new (and sick) trend in biopharma (link1, link2) where shell companies buy up the rights to "below market price" drugs and then jack up the prices by orders of magnitude to make a ROI. Well, at least those firms aren't deluding themselves that they're trying to help patients - they're explicit in their pure pursuit of profit, and it doesn't matter if needy patients are priced out.

----

Following up on VW and drug prices:

How an academic lab at UWV (an ironically similar acronym) detected VW's diesel cheating: http://www.vox.com/2015/9/23/9383663/vw-emissions-scandal-photo. I just wonder why VW's diesel rivals didn't question how VW could get superior mileage/torque while still keeping pollution low (the diesel engine is kind of zero-sum for these performance metrics). Like wouldn't they say, "Wow, in our lab we can only get 25 mpg if we stay under the NOx limit - I wonder how VW gets 40 mpg?" (numbers are fictional) Other auto makers are professing that their vehicles don't cheat, but we'll see. Even though very few light cars in the US are diesel, we of course have plenty of semi-trucks and heavier vehicles spewing particulates and carcinogens every day (but at least in CA, these vehicles now have to adhere to tighter limits). Not sure how big the impact will be in Europe, where ~half their light cars are diesel (but they have fewer cars per capita and drive fewer miles per capita vs. the US).

This article has an interesting viewpoint on the Shkreli drug prices scandal: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/9/23/9383899/martin-shkreli-daraprim-price. He's been such an a-hole and unapologetic capitalist re: his company's actions that he's garnered a ton of negative publicity. That actually helps to shed light on the drug price-gouging issue that Big Pharma has been engaging in for decades (BS loopholes to extend patents, buying the rights to generics or cheaper rival drugs to keep them off the market, etc.). Hopefully the increased attention and outrage will motivate lawmakers to consider new rules for the industry, but I'm not holding my breath.

Sacre bleu! Stop checking your Blackberry at night!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/10/301418591/mon-dieu-no-more-work-email-at-home-for-some-french-workers?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140410

 

Earlier The Guardian and BBC reported that France passed a law barring tech and consulting workers from using their work devices after hours (and for them, after hours means 6PM-9AM), affecting up to 1M employees. But it turns out the law only applies to hourly contractors (~200K workers) and amends a previous law that workers must have at least 11 hrs of free time per day, which is not exactly super generous.

This story was probably a Brit attempt to mock "the lazy, hedonistic frogs", but really - is it so admirable to be plugged into work almost 24-7 at the expense of your loved ones, personal interests, and health? Even if we love our job and want to work more (or are we just addicted, pressured, or socialized to think that?), you have to stop sometime! Even too much of a "good thing" is unhealthy; what happened to balance? Some managers have to force US workers to take vacation... that is kind of pathological right?

Well, despite having a 35-hour work week, at least 6 weeks of yearly vacation, and shall we say, "different" union laws, French worker productivity is similar to that of Germans AND Americans. So they are just a lot more efficient than us? Maybe knowing that you have under 9 hours a day to get your stuff done, it is motivating and clarifying? Instead in the US, it's always "let's see how much more we can pile on." But is that stuff really value-added? I think you would agree, but I have never read a brilliant late-night email and definitely don't do my best work late when I'm tired/distracted. If the late night stuff was so important, you would have worked on it at 10AM. Unless you need to respond to a 4-alarm fire at midnight, but in that case you may be hourly with a pension.

So, F-U GM and your macho, consumerist, Europe-mocking work ethic. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone (don't make deadly ignition switches and don't beg for a gov't bailout). Sorry, but I think truly successful people would be ashamed to have a Caddy in their driveway these days. So you get the posers like that B-list blond actor you hired on the cheap. I'll take a Renault, and use the leftover cash to have a nice vacation... IN FRANCE (well, Tahiti and Martinique are still technically France right?).