Replying to a message of JIM WELLER to BOB ACKLEY:

 BA>> Our drugs are more expensive because countries such as
 BA>> Canada don't allow the drug companies to recover their
 BA>> costs - and the US customers pay tose costs for the people
 BA>> of those countries.

 JW> I don't buy that. Canada has 50 pharmaceutical companies
 JW> that do research. 21 of them are publicly traded on the
 JW> Toronto Stock Exchange. The largest one, BioVail, has $1B
 JW> in sales, spends $100M (10%) in R&D and earned $200M
 JW> profit.

 JW>> How do you know the "the US government has been 'cooking
 JW>> the books' on the statistics it provides"?

 BA>> One example.  The US government claims there was no
 BA>> inflation in the US in 2009.  The price of dry dog food
 BA>> alone

 JW> In the US, like Canada, the cost of food went up a lot and
 JW> the cost of energy (gasoline, home heating oil, natural
 JW> gas) went down a lot,

Not around here.  Home heating oil went from $1.81/gallon last February
to $2.49/gallon this past December, that looks like it went UP a lot.
Gasoline is higher today than it was a year ago - but not as much as
heating oil.

 JW> with other components of the Consumer
 JW> Price index remaining fairly stable. Your cost of housing
 JW> also dropped from lower home prices; ours dropped from
 JW> lower interest rates. The overall index went down in 2008
 JW> and early 2009; ours started recovering six months ago -
 JW> yours has not yet.  

Since I don't believe government statistics I place no faith in that
'overall index.'  Insofar as economic recovery is concerned, I don't
believe it's going to happen any time soon.  A recent article - posted
elsewhere - noted that US employers dropped another 85,000 jobs in
December ('unexpectedly,' according to the article), that's probably a
million jobs gone in 2009 alone.

IMO Obama inherited an economic mess from Bush minor - and is
rapidly making the situation worse.  Much worse.

 BA>> The unemployment numbers are cooked, too.  Among other
 BA>> reasons they ignore people who have given up and are no
 BA>> longer looking for jobs.

 JW> That part of your statement is true. Here too. And it is
 JW> very difficult to get welfare role rates or labour
 JW> participation rates.





 JW> Cheers

 JW> YK Jim


 JW> ... Have you considered applying to re-join the
 JW> Commonwealth?

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