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November 2007
IPI senior research fellows George Pieler and Dr. Lawrence Hunter are featured today on Forbes.com with a new oped entitled, “Great New Idea: Subprime Insurance.”
The authors discuss the recently passed "Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007," a bill Pieler and Hunter say is “built on an open-ended financial commitment strapped to the backs of American taxpayers.”
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Let’s cut to the chase: Not a single candidate in either the Republican or Democratic presidential field, except Ron Paul, has a clue what to do to dampen the oscillations roiling the economy. And the proposals floating around Congress, such as the so-called “tax-reform” measure proposed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, will only amplify those oscillations and put greater stress on the economy by strangling the supply side.
The only question is which non-Paul candidate would do the least damage in the aftermath of Economic Katrina? Because, unless the new guy or gal in the Oval Offices wises up quickly, there is a category-five economic storm building off shore, which will sweep through the United States on the next president’s watch.
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| In a new oped featured in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram entitled “Roughing the Cable Passer,” IPI President Tom Giovanetti says the government has no business getting involved with private business dealings between the NFL and cable providers, such as in the broadcasting of Thursday night's game between the Cowboys and Packers. “There is no role for government to intrude into the business negotiations going on between the sports networks and the video providers,” writes Giovanetti. Read More...
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Now we know the REAL reason why Thailand is pushing compulsory licenses for pharmaceuticals. Read More...
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The two countries that have been most aggressive in criticizing the intellectual property regime are Brazil and Argentina.
In Geneva, at both the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Brazil and Argentina have led the charge against patents, claiming that patents are a barrier to access to technology, both health technology and software technology.
They don't like copyright, either, but that's another blog entry.
So I'm puzzled by these news items from Nature, which Julian Morris from IPN brought to my attention:
Brazil Invests in Science and Technology
Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently announced a US$28-billion investment package for the country's science and technology over the next three years, equivalent to 1.5 percent of Brazil's gross domestic product (GDP). The investment is a part of a federal plan to improve academic research and to counter the lack of technological innovation in the industrial sector. There have been an increasing number of scientific papers published by Brazilian researchers over the past few years. Currently, 2% of the world's scientific publications are Brazilian - ranking it 15th in the world. Nonetheless, the country is responsible for only 0.1% of all the patents registered globally each year. With the increase in budget, the government hopes to fill this gap. Read More...
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In a new oped featured today in the San Jose Mercury News entitled "States Wrong to Hobble Internet Commerce with Taxes on Access," IPI Senior Research Fellow George Pieler discusses the changes to the Internet tax moratorium since Congress voted for its extension, and how the states may still pose a risk to consumers.
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How Poor Are the Poor?
Dr. Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation says probably not as poor as you think.
Some of the presidential candidates are claiming that we have to do more for the poor. But Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation points out that being poor just ain’t what it used to be.
According to Rector, by the year 2001:
- 96 percent of poor Americans had at least one color television;
- 73 percent had a microwave oven;
- Three-quarters owned a car, with 30 percent owning two or more;
- 78 percent had a VCR or DVD player;
- And 62 percent had cable or satellite TV reception.
This isn’t intended to minimize the struggles that many poor families face. But it does suggest that the poor aren’t necessarily going to bed hungry. Read More...
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There’s More than Nine Amendments in the Bill of Rights
Ever heard of the Tenth Amendment? If not, you’re not alone.
And that explains a lot about why the country is in the political and fiscal mess it’s in.
It’s right there in the Bill of Rights, right along with the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech and religion.
It’s right there under the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms.
It’s right there close to the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
But the Tenth Amendment is at least as important as the first nine—maybe more so—even though it is ignored, denied and forgotten. Read More...
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One of the criticisms we constantly hear from the critics of the pharmaceutical industry is that they "put profits ahead of patients."
Their heroes, on the other hand, are the health ministers of developing countries, like Thailand, who "stand up" to the greedy pharmaceutical companies.
It's a common stereotype--the government person who is trying to "help" through government power is the good guy, while the people who are trying to accomplish things through corporate organizational structures are evil, greedy and untrustworthy.
Well, let's take a look at that.
The Minister of Health in Indonesia, Ms. Siti Fadilah Supari, has famously refused to supply key samples of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus to international researchers because she sees these virus samples as part of Indonesia's "genetic and biological resources."
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In a new oped featured today on Townhall.com entitled “Reform Entitlement Programs Without Raising Taxes,” Founder and Chairman of Kemp Partners and former Vice-Presidential candidate Jack Kemp cites IPI’s Peter Ferrara on the issue of Social Security and entitlement reform.
Calling Ferrara’s latest Barron’s article on the issue “path-breaking,” Kemp says Ferrara “offers a better way,” and “argues that the yawning entitlement financing gap is far too big to try to address with entitlement cuts, and tax increases would be counterproductive and unfairly burdensome for working people.”
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IPI Director of Technology Freedom Bartlett Cleland is featured today on Forbes.com with a new oped entitled "20/20 Vision on 70/70."
In the piece, Cleland discusses how increasing government regulation by the FCC, as by invoking the 1984 Cable Act's "70/70 Rule," is not the answer to a growing marketplace.
"Nothing brings greater service and products at better prices than market competition," writes Cleland.
An Excerpt:
Industrial policy-- the idea that government, rather than private sector, knows best how a particular industry should be ordered--never seems to die, despite repeated evidence that government-controlled industries never perform as well as those left to the free market.
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Just a couple of notes from this weekend's news that suggests that the various laws of economics are still in effect, and socialism still doesn't work no matter how many times Latin America gives it a go.
First stop, Venezuela, where in a story about Chavez's declining popularity, we read an interview with a young student who is skeptical of Chavez's constitutional reform initiative, wherein he conveniently scraps his own term limits.
Where is Ms. Aguilar when she is being interviewed by Associated Press?
Amanda Aguilar, 17, was in line at 5:30 a.m. waiting for a food store to open to buy her single, rationed carton of milk.
Hmmmm. Looks like the worker's paradise is running into some problems in Venezuela, or is at least having to spend a lot of time waiting in food lines. Read More...
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Should States Tax Illegal Drugs?
The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says the courts may not let them.
The state of Tennessee wanted to—How shall I say it?—“crack down” on crack, the illegal cocaine mixture.
So in 2005 the legislature passed what’s known as the “crack tax.” The law requires those dealing in illegal drugs and moonshine to anonymously pay a tax by buying a stamp for their illegal drugs.
No one expected criminals to actually buy the stamp; it was just a way to add to their punishment when drug traffickers were caught with non-stamped illegal drugs.
But the state’s taken in about $4 million in taxes over two years.
Now a federal appeals court has ruled the crack tax is unconstitutional, saying it’s “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.”
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Should States Tax Illegal Drugs? |
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Creating a “Progressive” Income Tax
Last April, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) told Tim Russert on Meet the Press:
“You could rearrange the [tax] rates and come out without a tax increase and more equity in the system. It has been more than 21 years since Congress and the Administration rolled up their sleeves to discuss tax reform, and during that time the tax code has become a jumbled mess of outdated and inequitable provisions that cry out for simplification.”
That tax reform from 21 years ago was the Reagan Tax Reform Act in 1986. Is Charlie Rangel saying he wants to return to the tax reforms of Ronald Reagan!? If so, we’re for it.
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So, the question is, do you think this guy is an Authorized Business Partner with any of the software companies he is representing on the street corner in downtown Rio de Janeiro?
I spent 20 minutes in downtown Rio on Friday afternoon, and I saw this scene replicated a half-dozen times, on a half-dozen street corners, in that brief juncture.
I also saw two examples of kiosks obviously selling counterfeit music CDs, but in both cases they were being sold side-by-side with pornography, which I wasn't inclined to post photos of on this blog. Read More...
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Keep the Finger In the Dike at the Internet Governance Forum
Several years of experience attending meetings of various United Nations organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has made us at IPI somewhat skeptical about the potential for good policy ideas to come from these organizations.
In fact, the least harmful thing that tends to happen is to provide a forum for countries to complain, and to try to deflect the blame for their lack of development onto the developed economies of the world, rather than accepting responsibility for the development of their own economies.
Much worse is the potential of these organizations to actually have a concrete impact on public policy. Read More...
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I mentioned in a previous blog entry that Intel and HP were cosponsors of the workshop on the need for exceptions and limitations to copyright.
In fact, at the workshop, Brad Biddle from Intel said that Intel has a "strong interest in a robust fair use and limitations regime for copyright."
We've noticed.
I have three questions for Intel, for Brad Biddle or for anyone else at Intel:
Question #1: Let's say I walk into an Intel building and announce to everyone that the public in the developing world has such a compelling interest in easy access to inexpensive computers, specifically for educational purposes, that we are going to start filing compulsory licenses on Intel technology and enlisting very low cost producers in Asia to produce chips for us, using your patents, at low cost.
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“The people want Social Security reform,” says Peter Ferrara in a new oped featured today on Forbes.com.
In the piece, Ferrara discusses how numerous polls have shown the American people in favor of personal retirement accounts, but policymakers in Washington erroneously assume the public has rejected the idea.
An excerpt:
"How important is it for the president and Congress to address the issue of Social Security in the next few years?" When recently polled on this question, a shocking 96% of the American people said it was important, with 86% saying very important. Only 2% said it was not important. Just about everyone in Washington is completely out of touch with the American people on this issue.
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Ever Want Some Beachfront Property in Florida?
The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says you may get to pay for it.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist hopes to make American taxpayers pay the cost of rebuilding Florida after a hurricane.
But wait, you ask, isn’t that why homeowners buy insurance?
In most states, yes. But Governor Crist has decided to give socialism a chance by making the state the dominant hurricane insurer. Unfortunately, the state hasn’t put enough money aside to pay the claims should a big hurricane hit.
If an insurer did that the company would be indicted.
But Crist now figures why force Florida taxpayers to set the money aside if he can talk Congress into footing the bill, so he’s pushing legislation.
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Ever Want Some Beachfront Property in Florida? |
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Yesterday the IP skeptic travelling circus was here in Rio at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), where they are suddenly experts on digital education.
Last week they were in Geneva at the World Health Organization (WHO), where they were experts on health care. A few weeks ago they were in Geneva at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where they were experts on economic development. Curious, that.
The circus set up its tent under a banner of education, and the basic theme of the workshop was that copyright is a barrier to education, so we need exceptions and limitations to copyright for educational purposes.
It was a completely balanced panel, with everyone on the panel believing that copyright is a real problem. Geidy Lung from the WIPO international division WAS on the panel, and she did a good job on a couple of occasions of pointing out outright inaccuracies in some of the other presentations.
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France Gets It Right: Can U.S. Politicians Do the Same?
If we’ve said anything bad about France—although we can’t recall anything—we take it ALL back.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech last week (Nov. 7, 2007) before the U.S. Congress demonstrates that President Sarkozy seems to have a better grasp of the beliefs and principles that made America great than many current members of Congress and political candidates.
Just listen to some of his comments:
From the very beginning, the American dream meant proving to all mankind that freedom, justice, human rights and democracy were no utopia but were rather the most realistic policy there is and the most likely to improve the fate of each and every person.
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So I'm in Rio de Janeiro attending the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on behalf of IPI (and right-thinking persons everywhere).
I'll do several blog postings throughout the week on this interesting event.
The IGF has been well-organized logistically with a few exceptions, one of which was inexcusably noteworthy, so I'm going to document it here.
We all had to register months earlier for the IGF. So you show up at the venue, the Windsor Barra Hotel, and as soon as you walk through the entrance, you go through metal detectors.
Then, after crossing the lobby, you go through a second set of metal detectors.
Only after going through the second set of metal detectors do you get to the IGF information booth. Now, you are told that you have to go through registration to get your badge, which is fine.
"So where is registration?" I ask. I am directed to a set of exit doors. I am to go outside, in the pouring rain, and walk down the side of the building until I find the registration area. Read More...
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The Miami Herald cites IPI’s music piracy study in the article: “Social Streaming: Music’s New Business Model?”
Staff writer Bridget Carey discusses a new business model for the music industry featuring up-and-coming social networking site Cyloop.com. The site is an example of a new kind of technology to make up for losses from recording music piracy.
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The natural-law concept of individual rights as set forth originally in the United States Constitution comprised a set of self-protective claims individuals had against the national government and subsequent to the 14th Amendment against state and local governments as well. These claims are manifest in a large set of constitutional restrictions and prohibitions on government that delineate illegitimate action—some explicit (First Amendment), many implicit (Ninth Amendment)—that government may not undertake in pursuit of the general welfare or to enforce natural-rights claims of one individual against another (e.g., rights to life and property). Natural rights that individuals possess as claims against other individuals were left properly outside the Constitution for government(s) to enforce through legislative deliberation and common-law judicial decisions, all constrained by the aforementioned constitutional limits (e.g., Fifth Amendment).
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USA Today makes a cogent case against the latest scheme by Florida politicians (Senator Billl Nelson, Rep. Ron Klein and Rep. Tim Mahoney) to put every American taxpayer on the hook for hurricane damage to the Sunshine state. Criticizing Senator Bill Nelson’s companion legislation (co-sponsored by Senator Hillary Clinton) to that offered in the U.S. House of Representatives by the two Representatives from Florida, USA Today says:
The measure would provide government-backed loans to states, and groups of states, stuck with major losses. Both the history of the National Flood Insurance Program — currently in need of a $20 billion bailout — and specific language in this plan strongly suggest that the likelihood of these "loans" being repaid is about the same as collecting money borrowed by a ne'er-do-well brother-in-law. Read More...
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IPI Director of Entitlement and Budget Policy Peter Ferrara tells California’s Press-Enterprise that the way to fix broken entitlements is to beware massive spending, and to embrace personal accounts and limited grants.
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IPI Senior Research Fellow Dr. Lawrence Hunter is featured today in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel discussing the costs of medicine and the issue of drug reimportation.
An excerpt:
Are drug prices spiraling out of control? Absolutely — according to some of America’s political leaders. In most cases, they'd like to fix the problem by foisting a government-run healthcare system upon us.
But a look at the facts reveals that we’re being misled. Drug prices are falling in inflation-adjusted terms.
The Labor Department just released numbers showing that nominal drug prices rose one percent since last September.
Moreover, it’s nearly two full percentage points below overall inflation. And it’s 3.5 poits less than medical-care inflation.
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This is rich: China is going to tell us all how to secure the Internet this afternoon at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
I wonder if they are going to brag about how effectively they have cut down on all that nasty free speech and political inquiry? I wonder if they are going to tell us how they don't respect the privacy of their citizens and constantly monitor and spy on their Internet usage? Read More...
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At various times I have described the gaggle of activists that has congealed around opposition to intellectual property as "IP skeptics" (I think I may have coined that term), "anti-IP", "anti-capitalist", "anti-corporate," "neo- Marxist," etc. In my most recent blog entry, I referred to them as Marxists.
This label was, apparently, not appreciated. Though I should note that it was not denied.
So I'd like to make the case that, in fact, these activist NGOs are, in fact, Marxists, or at least that they advocate what can accurately be described as a Marxist agenda. Read More...
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Read IPI Senior Research Fellow George A. Pieler’s latest oped, co-authored with Jens F. Lauron, featured online at the Claremont Institute.
In “Chilling Uncertainties About Global Warming,” Pieler and Laurson discuss the dangers of mainstream doomsdayers muffling the voice of dissent in the debate over climate change.
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Making Drugs Cheaper . . . or Not
At least no one can say we weren’t warned.
Several of the Democratic presidential candidates have said that if elected president, they would impose price controls on prescription drugs.
Well, to be fair, they didn’t say it exactly like that. Rather, they are using euphemisms like “increase competition” or “allow the government to negotiate prices with prescription drug manufacturers.”
Here’s a quick test for those of you on Medicare: Next time you go to see your doctor, ask how much “negotiating” goes on between your physician and the government over how much the government will reimburse for that visit.
Even if the candidates don’t say “price controls,” that’s what they mean. Read More...
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At the World Health Organization, where a handful of Marxist NGOs have manipulated developing countries to push for the elimination of patents on pharmaceutical and medical products (much more on that later), the Mexican delegation is standing up for innovation and sound economic thinking.
I think a trip to Mexico City to give them all medals should be a part of my future travel plans.
Here is the anti-IP language that Mexico is rightly seeking to have deleted from the final document that will be produced by the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health:
"Intellectual property, investment or trade agreements should not prevent a country from adopting measures necessary to prevent anti-competitive practices that may result from the abuse of intellectual property rights." (Mexico suggests delete)
" . . . urge active and effective participation of health representatives in IP-related negotiations in order to ensure Read More...
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Resident Scholar and Healthcare Policy Expert Dr. Merrill Matthews offers insight into the Rev. Robertson's endorsement of presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani in today's edition of The Washington Times.
In "Christian Right Scatters Support for GOP," Dr. Matthews states: "Many evangelicals have been saying quietly that given the choice between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, they would vote for Rudy. Pat Robertson's endorsement frees them up to say so publicly."
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Is It Time to Import Foreign-Made Prescription Drugs?
The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says they will be at least as safe as all those lead-painted toys.
Some politicians want to remove current consumer safety protections so that Americans can buy prescription drugs from other countries.
For example, several states set up programs to help their citizens buy imported drugs, but almost no one participated.
Now Congress wants to do the same.
You’d think with all the recent scares—from imported food poisoning people and children’s toys covered with lead-based paint—that Congress would think twice about exposing Americans to foreign-made prescription drugs. But you’d be wrong.
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Is It Time to Import Foreign-Made Prescription Drugs? |
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In a series of blog entries, I have commented on the disagreements between several new sports video channels (NFL Network, Big Ten Network, etc.) and video providers (TimeWarner, Comcast, etc.).
In one of my blog entries, I described the upcoming NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers as "the day when the NFL's greed reaches the tipping point."
The points of my commentaries were as follows:
- These are private negotiations between the new channels and the video providers. There is no policy issue other than the importance of leaving this to private negotiation, and not involving government in settling the fight and picking winners and losers. Read More...
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Now You See It; Now You . . .
You know, a person could be forgiven for wondering who’s running the show—or if anyone is running the show—over at the White House.
You will recall that in 2003, the Bush administration pushed through—and we do mean “pushed”—the Medicare Modernization Act, which provided a new prescription drug benefit for every senior.
First, let it be said that the program has worked much better than some of us had predicted, thanks in no small part to the administrative efforts of then-Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mark McClellan.
But the administration met with a lot of resistance from conservatives at the time because the drug plan included everyone, regardless of income. There was some minor means-testing introduced in the bill. Read More...
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Two rounds of hearings in the House Financial Services Committee later, prospects for genuine insurance reform in this Congress are...well....just a bit unclear. While there's been plenty of positive testimony for the Optional Federal Charter idea (in essence a national regulator at the option of the insurance company, but NOT a national overseer of state insurance regulation), there has also been plenty of criticism from from other quarters. Insurance agents, and state regulators of course, are not keen at the prospect of having their professional lives complicated by Washington.
What's more, Chairman Barney Frank has signalled nothing can happen UNLESS the industry is unified on a solution. As he knows full well, NO industry is ever wholly unified on regulatory questions. That's why we have a Congress, folks. Frank also suggests splitting the industry between life insurers (they could have the federal option) and property and casualty insurers (no option for you). Read More...
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What’s the Frequency Kevin?
These days, music lovers, talk radio junkies, and sports aficionados have more choices than ever when it comes to ways to access their favorite content. Broadcast radio, high definition (HD) radio, Internet, podcasts, and a host of mobile devices, all compete to win the consumers' affections.
This buffet of choice should inform the debate over whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), should allow XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio to merge.
Those who oppose the merger take a ridiculously narrow view of the marketplace, “…portable radio service on a nationwide scale to geographically dispersed audiences.” They claim a merger would leave only a single provider in the “marketplace.” Read More...
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Author: Erin Fitch || Location: Lewisville, Texas, USA