Friday, March 30, 2012

India pharma industry broke monopoly on life-saving drugs: Sharma


          It seems that global conglomerates no longer hold the ultimate authority in producing and selling life-saving medicines. The Indian generic drugs industry has disrupted this monopoly by making generic forms of these pharmaceuticals affordable for the impoverished in India, Africa, and South America.
         Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma encouraged that India would continue to proceed with this operation. 
        This news is especially beneficial for Africa as the African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies spoke of an agreement made with an Indian pharmaceutical company that would bring in 100 million dollars into South Africa's economy.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/92710/content/197821/todays-letters.html

Tobacco companies must report chemical levels in cigarettes

          The FDA has decided to step in and put stricter regulations on the tobacco industry. As of recently, the FDA have made it mandatory for tobacco companies to report the levels of dangerous chemicals and substances, such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, present in their products for a more consumer-friendly market.
          According to a law that was enacted in 2009, the FDA had been given the right to regulate aspects of marketing and manufacturing of this industry. This, however, may be providing more profits for the companies by cutting out the additional costs of advertising.
          The intent of the FDA is to find a substitute good that is safer than "goods" in today's tobacco market. The reality is that scientific research will inevitably need valuable time and resources for creating such a product. Therefore, this is only a distant goal at the moment.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tobacco-labels-20120331,0,2530579.story

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Deepwater drilling moratorium has created 'hidden victims,' study says


     Due to the oil rig explosion of April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, small and medium-sized businesses of the Louisiana energy industry have been cutting salaries, using money from their cash reserves, and moving business out of the Gulf of Mexico to survive in today's economy. 
     However, the businesses, also known as the "hidden victims", of the federal deepwater drilling moratorium, are having their problems going by unnoticed because they are still operating and are mostly avoiding laying off their employees. 
     Since the April 2010 accident killed 11 men and caused the largest oil spill in the nation's history, new and existing deepwater drilling had been suspended and the approval of new drilling permits had been halted for months. 
     When the moratorium was lifted, permit issuance was granted once again, but at an extremely slow rate (66 percent less than the monthly average a year before the spill).    
     This slowdown truly hurt the operation of these businesses within Louisiana. 
     As the consequences of this disaster are bringing much more harm than good to this industry, negative externalities are a result, with the small and medium-sized businesses as the third parties affected. 

Source: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/01/deepwater_drilling_moratorium_13.html

Mother Nature, we forgive you for ’11; now let it rain

      Producers, consumers, and all others involved with the winegrape industry are upset as 2011's harvest was much smaller when compared to 2010's harvest.
     According to the California Grape Crush Report, the biggest varieties experienced a large percent change in quantity (-20 to -24% for chardonnay and -9 to -12% for cabernet sauvignon) in major growing areas on the North coast. The quickest growing variety, pinot noir, also experienced a significant decrease in quantity (-5 to -19% change in quantity).
     This can be a necessary evil. The truth of the matter is that excess supply is ultimately detrimental to everyone. It brings down both retail prices and grape prices.
     Short supply is also a problem, but it is needed for bringing in pricing power, or how the product price affects the quantity demanded.
     In the case of excess supply, the price of winegrapes would decrease along with consumer demand, resulting in little or no profit in the winegrape market. In the case of short supply, the markets would stabilize by causing prices to eventually rise, resulting in an increase in consumer demand for winegrapes.
     However, the economy is still in a vulnerable state and rain is exactly what European countries such as Italy and Spain are hoping for.
     On the bright side, the grape and wine supply in the North Coast of California is back to normal in terms of demand and wineries are buying grapes once again.

Source:  http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/49474/grape-market-insights-on-harvest-2011-in-preliminary-crush-report-2/