To the Editor:
I’m an Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk investor, and it’s great to see how their GLP-1 weight-loss drugs can help to get one of our biggest problems worldwide under control. However, we should use them in a smart combination, or otherwise the costs will crash the healthcare system (“How Ozempic and Wegovy Could Break the Healthcare System,” Cover Story, Sept. 21).
Medicare and other insurers should pay for them, but only as a first step for those who, for example, already have high blood pressure and have to take medicine to control it. Medicare should also implement a healthy-life bonus system for all others who want the drugs. If patients do their workouts and are also changing their eating behavior by adjusting it to their metabolism, then it’s going to be an affordable success and will help many people.
It can’t be that people without diabetes take this drug for the rest of their lives. It isn’t affordable for the healthcare system. Every drug has long-term side effects, and we shouldn’t support a pill just so patients can get their next pizza slice without guilt.
Chris Frauenknecht
Chur, Switzerland
Social Security Fix
To the Editor:
The bipartisan proposal to fix Social Security by investing $1.5 trillion of government funds in equity index funds is profoundly ill-advised (Social Security’s Problem Is Growing. This Plan to Fix It Deserves a Look”, The Economy, Sept. 22). Equities carry systematic risks, and those risks are priced into valuations. The resultant risk premium is why equities tend to earn higher returns than bonds in the first place. Believing history shows that equities will always outperform U.S. Treasuries in the long run, and hence there is no real risk, is a fallacy. It is analogous to my believing that I can never be killed in a car accident because I have been driving for 45 years and so far, so good.
Jonathan Lipow
Monterey, Calif.
Old Dogs, New Tricks
To the Editor:
It’s hard teaching new techniques to old dogs (“German Auto Makers Are Pouring $406 Billion Into EVs. The Race Is On,” International Trader, Sept. 22). The auto manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic suffer from legacy issues, older workers, and strong labor unions. Innovation often comes from owner-operated leaner firms. No wonder Tesla is the market leader in the U.S. and Europe in luxury electric vehicles, and most likely in the mass markets, as well.
Sreeni Meka
On Barrons.com
The Problem With China
To the Editor:
By investing in China, you are in essence strengthening the hands of China’s President Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party, and the Chinese military (“China Is in Trouble, but It’s No Disaster. Don’t Run Scared,” Sept. 21).
Erik H. Schot
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Fla.
Email: [email protected]
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