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The Wrong Medicine

Originally published at The Washington Times

What would you think of someone who withheld curative medicine from a sick person?

Many governments are, in effect, doing just this. There are billions of people throughout the world suffering from various ailments who could be made well if only more money were invested in new drug research and development (R&D;). The reason this money is not invested is because all too many countries outside the United States have price controls on drugs, leading to under-investment in new and improved medicines. These same price controls also have the side effect of making drugs more expensive for U.S. consumers.

Many in Congress and the media demand more re-importation of U.S. made pharmaceutical products from countries with price controls, like Canada, or direct price controls in the U.S. These so-called solutions to the “high price of drugs’ problem” will, in fact, only worsen the situation. To solve the problem, it is important to first diagnose it correctly.

Continue Reading at The Washington Times

Richard Rahn

Richard W. Rahn is an economist, syndicated columnist, and entrepreneur. He was a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute. Currently, he is Chairman of Improbable Success Productions and the Institute for Global Economic Growth. He was the Vice President and Chief Economist of the United States Chamber of Commerce during the Reagan Administration and remains a staunch advocate of supply-side economics, small government, and classical liberalism.