“Tommy” is the title of an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling, written from the point of view of a soldier, and contrasts the treatment they receive from the general public during peace and during war. Tommy is generic slang for a common British soldier and is roughly equivalent to the U.S.’s G.I. or G.I. Joe.
Perhaps the most interesting and relevant lines in the poem are:
“For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;”
Investors may want to consider how quickly the public’s attitude toward big pharma has gone from complaining about how it prices its products, to waiting with baited breath for an effective response to the dangers brought about by the emergence of the coronavirus.
All comments and or suggestions are welcome.
Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA