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Agreed, and the increased prices are for existing drugs. We are not seeing an increase in cost due to innovation. Price increases are caused by companies charging more year after year for the same pill.

These companies are granted monopoly status on a compact with the Citizens and US government.

If they break this compact, I see no reason to protect their patent. Eminent domain is a thing. Lets use it.

I have a hypothesis that productivity growth is tied to the capital / income ratio. That is: if the percentage of income that goes to capital vs labor increases, the productivity of the laborers rises at a slower rate. But I obviously can't substantiate that.

Rent seeking is rampant, and capitalism is unwilling and/or unable to figure out how to productively employ more and more people. e.g. decisions to buyback stocks instead of investing in anything of fundamental value, including productivity improvements.