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mdszy

Expecting profit during a catastrophe is exactly why the sitaution is as shit as it is right now.

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Ok, but please don't post unsubstantive or flamebait comments to HN.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22936488.

Ok, why don't you make a test and sell it at cost?

Corporations are not people.

How have you been foregoing profit for your work during this calamitous time? Have you been laid off like many people or are you simply returning the cheques that your employer sends you?

Personally I've been continuing to show up for work despite my employer not having sufficient funds to pay me but I understand that every situation is different.

Profit != wages. A company profiting off a test is not the same as a worker being paid for their labor. Something being made at cost would price in the cost of labor, while profit is in excess of that (and all other expenses).

So what you are saying is that everyone should work for minimum wage, and any wage in excess of that is profit?

I would say anything above your costs of living would be profit in a wage, no?

Existing within a system is not inherent endorsement of that system.

Corporations are not people.

But then, why would any company take the risk of developing a new test?

Exactly. I'd love to ask all the people criticizing this to work for free for a few months because "it's the right thing to do in a crisis".

I'm guessing there would be zero takers.

In fact quite a number of people are out there working for free because "it's the right thing to do in a crisis."

Are they wealthy? How do they pay rent, food, etc?

Personally, I would do (and have done) certain kinds of work without monetary compensation because I want to see it done, or because I think there's some other upside.

However, I probably wouldn't ask that of LabCorp in this circumstance, because what I want from institutions providing testing is scaling up while providing an effective product/service. Not getting revenue makes that considerably harder.

Public subsidies might make a lot of sense, though, especially to the extent that everyone wins the broader/deeper test coverage is, but not everyone has a disposable $100.

There's a structural limit to a market based economy that can only be overcome with central planning. This is it. We ran into it.

economic profit, gross profit, operating profit, or net profit?

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