This and That----September 2, 2026 Edition

A few random observations, charts and factoids to provide some context on what is going on in the world.

Prescription Drug Prices

All of the media attentions seems directed at higher gas and food costs.

For some reason no attention is being paid to lower prescription drug prices.

 Prices are down 3.1% over the last 12 months.

They were down 0.8% in July alone---the largest decrease in the last 60 years. That equates to an annualized decline of almost 10%.

The drop in prices has been so dramatic that it was a major factor in revenues slowing down for Walmart last quarter.

Revenues from Walmart's pharmacy business declined year over year spooking investors as Walmart's overall revenue gains were affected by the pharma price declines.

Walmart,s stock quickly dropped 10% in the aftermath of its earnings release,

What did Walmart state was the cause of the decline in pharmacy revenues?

Source: https://www.ndtvprofit.com/markets/walmart-earnings-impact-shares-plunge-6-pre-market-as-drug-price-decline-spooks-investors-11935834

Despite the stronger overall performance, falling drug prices emerged as a concern for investors. Walmart said the decline was partly linked to the federal government's Medicare prescription drug regulations.

The company specifically pointed to lower prices for GLP-1 drugs, saying prescription growth was “more than offset by price-mix headwinds.”

The pressure comes as the US prescription drug market experiences significant price deflation. According to Axios, drug prices are seeing their biggest decline in generations.

Those declines were due to pressure by the Trump Administration that was made possible in part by the new law passed in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill last year.   

That provision requires pharma companies to provide "most favored nation" pricing in the United States similar to prices offered to the lowest or second-lowest prices paid in comparable, wealthy international peer nations.

Is the reason that you don't hear about lower drug prices due to the fact that Donald Trump is in The White House and not a Democrat?

Drug Use Deaths

Pharmacy prices have decreased over the last year but so have deaths from illegal drug usage.

A few years ago all we heard about were deaths from fentanyl.

Deaths are down 54% from the peak in 2024.

Credit: https://x.com/Smirkley/status/2092263071272100135/photo/1

Deaths from meth, cocaine and heroin are also down since 2024.

The downward trend appears to have begun before Donald Trump was elected in 2024 but it is hard to say that stronger border enforcement and using the Navy and Coast Guard to track and destroy drug running craft in the Caribbean has not had a significant effect on these numbers.

Again, how much of this is being reported in the. mainstream media?

 

Cola Wars

For years we have been hearing about the cola war between Coke and Pepsi.

There have also been several books written about the brand competition over the years.

I was surprised recently to see that the Cola War is no longer between Coke and Pepsi.

It is between Coke and Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper has passed Pepsi, Sprite and Diet Coke in recent years to become the second best selling soft drink in the U.S.

Source: Google AI

Pepsi might need another Roger Enrico.

Unfortunately, he passed away 10 years ago.

Pepsi's competition with Coke seems to have passed away as well.

Were The Good Old Days Actually That Great?

We hear a lot about how it used to be better in the good old days.

We also have our younger generations believing that nothing will ever get any better.

There is no reason that it is not possible for the next 80 years to show more improvements than the last 80 years did.

Credit: https://x.com/newtgingrich/status/2090803212659950059/photo/1

 

Most of what we have today was unthinkable 80 years ago.

The graphic above does not take account of such improvements as the television, satellite communications, computers, the internet, cell phones, Google, Amazon, AI and much more.

The best is always yet to come as long as human ingenuity and innovation, the "ultimate resource", is involved.

BeeLine Sets Another Record on Views

BeeLine broke all records for views in the month of August.

More than 500,000 views of BeeLine blog posts were registered during the month.

That is an average of over 17,500 per day.

Source: Google Analytics
August, 2026 Activity

The previous monthly record was 300,000 views.

Thank you to all my followers and readers for your support.

I also appreciate the fact that many of you are forwarding BeeLine content to others.

This type of reach would not be possible without you.