2024-11-20 at 8:08 AM UTC
In the aftermath of RFK Jr's appointment as the extremely influential secretary of Health and Human Services, a position which determines the fate of trillions in government spending, pharma stocks - especially those with a vaccine bent - have gotten crushed.
But the plunge in pharma shareholder value is just the first casualty of RFK Jr's arrival.
By now, everyone knows that just as there is nobody more powerful and influential than the pharma lobby in DC, so there is no industry more generous in its mass influence peddling, pardon ad spend, on major TV networks than pharma companies. And with the coming great winter for peddlers of legalized drugs and untested mRNA therapies, the biggest losers after the pharma universe itself will be those to whom said universe used to spend billions to buy influence.
Who is most exposed? For the answer we go to a report from Morgan Stanley analyst Cameron McVeigh (available to pro subscribers) who notes that "network TV and cable news networks, which skew to older demos, benefit from pharma ad spend."
Here are his main takeaways:
Existing regulations requiring significant risk discussions (fair balance) in ads have left pharma advertising heavily dependent on national TV advertising.
Third party data suggests 88% of pharma ad spend is still TV compared to just 8% digital. Pharma ad spend is roughly 7% of total US ad spend.
Among media companies, MS sees the highest exposure to pharma spending on TV (<5% of total rev) at FOX, Paramount and AMC Networsk.
Morgan Stanley would expect significant healthcare and media industry pushback to any proposed or enacted changes to pharma ad spend.
Starting at the top, here is the punchline: 88% of all Pharma ad budget targets traditional TV.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/which-tv-networks-will-be-crushed-rfk-jrs-crackdown-pharma-ad-spending
The following users say it would be alright if the author of this
post didn't die in a fire!
2024-11-20 at 8:17 AM UTC
The following users say it would be alright if the author of this
post didn't die in a fire!
2024-11-20 at 3:32 PM UTC
he probably get arse arse inated before he could initiate meaningful changes.
2024-11-20 at 5:37 PM UTC
but how will people know to ask their doctor?!
2024-11-20 at 7:53 PM UTC
Shoulda bought crypto instead.
2024-11-20 at 8:45 PM UTC
hey guys anarchist ghost podcast here, From the perspective of a decentralized, "Bitcoin first" anarchist DAO international economy, the recent developments and their implications for the pharma lobby and media conglomerates reveal the structural flaws in centralized systems driven by crony capitalism. The dominance of Big Pharma in dictating both public health policy and the flow of advertising revenue exemplifies a parasitic relationship between the state and entrenched corporate interests, fueled by fiat money and government coercion.
Why Libertarians Are "Cucks"
Libertarians often pride themselves on opposing government overreach but fail to recognize the deeper systemic issues: fiat currencies and centralized structures inherently favor crony capitalism. Their "small government" rhetoric doesn't challenge the root causeācentralized monetary systems that enable these power imbalances. In defending "free markets" without addressing how those markets are manipulated by monopolistic lobbying and state-backed capital flows, libertarians end up enabling the very forces they claim to oppose. They act as apologists for private tyranny, clinging to a fantasy of voluntaryism in a world where the fiat state enforces monopolies.
In this scenario:
Libertarians might celebrate RFK Jr.'s policies as a reduction in government interference in the market but miss that the market they idolize is a rigged game.
By refusing to engage with tools like Bitcoin, which disempower centralized actors, libertarians concede the field to corporate-state collusion and, ironically, reinforce the very systems that crush market freedom.
The Fallout of RFK Jr.'s Moves
RFK Jr.'s reforms may dent Big Pharma's influence temporarily, but as long as the fiat state remains, the lobbyists will adapt, seeking new ways to exert control. The real revolution requires dismantling the fiat-driven state-corporate nexus entirely. A decentralized, Bitcoin-backed economy would make pharma and media dinosaurs irrelevant, replacing coercive monopolies with communities managing their resources directly.
Pharma stocks crashing? Media networks scrambling? Good. But the real solution isnāt shifting spending priorities within the fiat paradigmāitās opting out entirely. Decentralize or die trying.
