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A half-hearted defence of the pharmaceutical industry

Exorbitant drug pricing by Big Pharma is often viewed as exploitative and unfair to those who don’t have the support of insurance or government subsidies. Justin Liu sort-of explains why it might be a necessary evil.

A clash between ethics and the market: price gouging and Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey has wreaked havoc across the Southern United States, causing severe flooding and breakdowns in all sorts of essential infrastructure such as transport and communication. At some point, there seems to have been an erosion of the unwritten rules that form our social norms, and at the surface, it can appear that there are profiteers seeking to make a quick buck out of the desperate – price gouging.

Risky business: the free insurance provided to banks

It’s often disappointing to see governments bailing out financial institutions. “Let them fail!”, the public cries out. However, is this alternative any better? Moral hazard explores the consequences of banks knowing they can get away scot-free if things go belly up.
This article first appeared in Short Supply 2017 – check out the full magazine via the Short Supply tab at the top of this page!

No More Gifts

Should we give gifts? Justin Liu makes a compelling case for why we should not…