Hearing Economics

 WHAT is ItriCon?    IntriCon Corp describes itself as a “manufacturing OEM.” For the uninitiated (like me) OME stands for “Original Equipment Manufacturer.”  An OEM manufactures parts and finished products which it sells to other companies, which in turn use the parts and sell the purchased products under their own brand names.  IntriCon further describes itself as an OEM “dependent

A year ago, odds are low that the name “IntriCon” was tripping off the tongues of most Audiologists.  That may not have changed much in the past year, but it is worth knowing about Intricon Corp., the “tiny” company that is the little engine that could and did:  it is the manufacturing force driving big UHC’s subsidiary,  Hi HealthInnovations.  I’ll

Editor’s note:  This series follows predictions by Lars Kolind[1] in the 1990s.    Today’s post– the grand finale in this series–considers Dr. Kolind’s final prediction of a Brave New World that looks a good deal like a high volume version of the Old World.  We have arrived at this point after posts on Predictions I through VII, which covered  Audiologists as Retailers,Vanishing

Editor’s Note:  Brian Taylor, AuD, returns as a Guest Editor this week to, introduce another innovative concept.  Last time, he wrote about Concierge Audiology.  Today he writes on Mass Personalization of Services.  I think regular readers of this section will agree that Dr. Taylor’s posts fit perfectly with our “Back to the Future” series.  Welcome, Brian! Austrian born economist Joseph

Editor’s note:  This series follows predictions by Lars Kolind[1] in the 1990s.   Predictions to date have addressed Audiologists as Retailers,Vanishing Practitioner Autonomy, Internet Dispensing, Consumer Expectations, Vertical Distribution, Technological Dominance, Dispensers and Audiologists as Bedfellows, Ruthless Demand Curves buy cozaar online https://dental-clinic-delhi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cozaar.html no prescription , and Verification and Validation by regulation. Today’s post considers factors affecting market expansion. Lars Kolind’s Prediction #VII. There will be huge market

As mentioned in last week’s post on National Coffee Week in the UK, a principal joy of blogging is that one can write about one’s interests, in this case coffee. Another joy of blogging is the opportunity to wander off on a mental vacation of sorts and write about fun stuff instead of Economics.  Hence, the coffee topic returns this

A principal joy of blogging is that one can write about one’s interests, or in the case of this post, what keeps one upright and moving forward. By “one” I mean this editor and what keeps this editor going is the psychostimulant Coffee. Lloyds of London started out in a coffee shop, so there’s the first Economic connection.  The tie-in

Last time in this series, we left off with a consumer — who we’ll now name Jack — facing a choice of purchasing hearing aids or monthly golf club membership. We gave Jack a $5000 budget and made it simple by making it a $1000 choice for golf or a hearing aid.  To recap, Jack’s utility, when faced with the

Editor’s note:  This series follows predictions by Lars Kolind[1] in the 1990s.   So far, this series has negotiated all sorts of land mines, chief among them Audiologists as Retailers, Vanishing Practitioner Autonomy, Internet Dispensing, Consumer Expectations, Vertical Distribution, Technological Dominance, Dispensers and Audiologists as Bedfellows, and Ruthless Demand Curves.  Where’s the love?  Unfortunately not in today’s post, which looks at a Prediction that

Editor’s Note:  Though occasional references are made in passing  to old posts, I have previously not resurrected old material.  Today’s post unearths an embryonic story written more than 18 months ago, long before it surfaced as a professional reality.    That story has now hatched and is featured in the newest edition of Starkey’s in-house journal.{{1}}[[1]]Frigerio, F. (2012), The future