"You can't get there from here," Zeno says

Alternative Medicine Review, August, 2000 by Al Czap

At the time this issue of our journal is going to press, the U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of the HMOs, and against what most people consider to be adequate patient care; the price of gasoline has just reached an all-time high; a ludicrous number of the dotcoms are being buried one after another; and pharmaceutical prices are bordering on the ridiculous. Is there a connection here? Of course there is. Regarding the HMOs, the court had to rule the way it did -- because of, as they so neatly say, "existing law." The gasoline companies conveniently blame inadequate supplies and the "soaring costs of cleaner gasoline production." Lack of investor return is killing off many of the dotcoms. And the pharmaceutical companies whine forever on, pointing the finger at excessive regulatory costs.

Each and every day we hear and read of the "injustices" of large corporations. Their massive profits, their crappy customer service, their cost cutting, their lay-offs, their plant closings, the shabby quality of their products, etc., etc. But there is an underlying cause -- and there are individuals to blame. The CEO? No. The Board of Directors? No. Management? No. It's YOUR fault! Really. Get up and go look in the mirror. Yes, you are to blame. You, the thrice-removed shareholder.

Publicly held companies and their management have one driving motivation in their hierarchy of corporate needs -- to return a profit. It is the job of the CEO, the job of the Board of Directors, and the job of management to ensure that "profit" is always going to be there for the stockholders. But you don't personally own any of those stocks, you reply. Perhaps you didn't buy them on-line or through a broker, but that mutual fund you invested in has a portfolio, which includes another portfolio, which does own a piece of these companies. That life insurance policy you purchased has provided another source of portfolio ownership. And your company's profit sharing plan no doubt owns a chunk of the market as well.

The HMOs and the pharmaceutical companies directly affect the readership of this journal. The piece of the health-care dollar eaten up in this arena does cut the available patient funds that could be dedicated to preventive care. Everyone wants it both ways -- a massive return on stock investments and great service and great products at laughably low prices. If you sell those stocks, will you feel better being the only person on the planet not making money in the stock market? Xanax Paradox?

Al Czap, Publisher