Safety is everything , whether you're buying a car or taking a medicine .
But in America , some drugs have turned into an obsession so much so that they're altering the economy of Denmark sounds complicated .
Let me explain how are drugs in America , altering the economy of Denmark ?
The drugs we are talking about are called Ozempic and now they're used to treat diabetes , but Americans are taking them to lose weight .
This is a , there's a big surge in this , in , in demand and it's benefiting just one company , Novo Nordisk .
This is a company that makes both the drugs , Ozempic and Vivi Novo Nordisk is a Danish company .
It was already Denmark's largest , but now this company has become bigger than Denmark's economy .
Noble Nordisk is valued at $413 billion .
And what is Denmark's GDP $406 billion .
So one company is bigger than the entire country's economy .
How did this happen ?
It happened .
Thanks to the unprecedented demand from America , the sales of these drugs are booming .
Doctors are prescribing them in growing numbers , diabetes patients were already taking them .
They still do .
But now there's a whole new customer base for these drugs .
It's made up of people seeking weight loss .
A study claimed that these drugs can help in weight loss and a new market opened , people started lining up for these diabetes drugs and this led to serious shortages in many places .
The medicines were out of stock , diabetes patients who needed the drugs were unable to get them and this led to panic .
It was good for the business though projections say the demand will remain high for the foreseeable future and this will push up the profit margins .
Novo Nordisk expects profits to grow by 37% .
This year .
In the first six months , the company raked in $7 billion in pure profit and even Denmark is benefiting from all of this .
The company is bringing more dollars to Denmark .
It sells the drug to America .
It earns payments in dollars these dollars and come to Denmark .
The company converts them into local currency .
It's called the Danish Croner .
And thanks to this trade , its value has improved dramatically .
The dollar inflow became so high that the Danish Bank had to step in .
It has lowered interest rates just to stabilize the currency and this has had a trickle down effect on other banks .
It's a good time to borrow in Denmark .
The central bank is keeping interest rates low which means cheaper home and car loans .
And remember all of this is happening .
Thanks to one company and two drugs , Novo Nordisk has fueled growth , economic growth improve Denmark's foreign reserves and cause the lowering of interest rates .
And there will be more ripple effects like the creation of new jobs .
Denmark , like I said , is benefiting from all of this .
Although it's not a new phenomenon for the Nordics , you may remember another such nokia .
It was a leading phone manufacturer and synonymous with Finland .
Before the smartphone era began buying a phone meant buying a nokia .
It was , there was a high demand for nokia phones .
At its peak .
In the year 2000 , nokia accounted for 4% of Finland's economy .
More than 1/5 of its exports and 70% .
70 70% of Finland's Stock exchange .
Nokia played a big role in Finland's growth from 1995 to 2007 .
Finland's GDP rose by 55% all because of Nokia's dominance in phones .
So Finland rode the success of Nokia for over a decade .
But the launch of the iphone changed everything .
Phones , iphones took over the market in the 2000 tens .
They ushered the smartphone era .
Nokia failed to catch up .
It did not innovate today .
All phones feature the touch screen that Apple pioneered and Nokia barely has any presence in this market .
So how did Nokia's fall impact Finland ?
Nokia's decline coincided with Finland's stagnation from 4% .
The company's share in Finland's GDP fell to 0.4% from four to 0.4 .
There were job cuts Finland's per capita income declined .
That's what happens when one company becomes bigger than an entire country .
It's a double edged sword when they thrive economic growth , skyrockets .
But when they fall , the consequences strike you with even greater force .
But for now , things are looking up for Denmark .
Do you know how many Americans are eligible to take the diabetes drug for weight loss ?
Almost 100 million .
These jabs are the latest health trend .
The health benefits are a subject of debate but their economic benefits for Denmark are not .