Fraser Forum - February 2009: Impeding Access to Prescription Drugs

In this issue:

Up Front: Public policy in tough times
Veteran politician Preston Manning shares his thoughts on the economic downturn with FraserTV following a recent Fraser Institute event in Vancouver.

Beware of bailout
by Mark Milke
Governments should learn from past mistakes and not give public funds to failing businesses via “stimulus” packages.

The wrong answer to high drug prices
by Philip Stevens
To improve access to new treatments, the government needs to loosen its grip on both health care provision and the drug approval process.

Tolls, not taxes
by Niels Veldhuis and Charles Lammam
To finance infrastructure, the government should increase the use of tolls and offset them with tax reductions.

Generic drugs in Canada
by Brett J. Skinner and Mark Rovere
Canadians pay much more for generic drugs than they otherwise would if prices were determined by competitive market forces.

35 years of ideas and impact
by Kristin Fryer
This year, the Fraser Institute celebrates its 35th anniversary.

The future of NATO
by Alan W. Dowd
Sixty years after it was created, NATO remains an important alliance, but one that faces many challenges.

The problem with central planning
by Brett J. Skinner and Mark Rovere
The federal and provincial governments’ interventionist drug policies have not led to lower drug costs for Canadians.

Raising BC’s minimum wage
by Niels Veldhuis
Increasing BC’s minimum wage to $10 per hour could lead to a loss of up to 52,000 jobs for workers aged 15 to 24.

The need for worker choice in BC
by Niels Veldhuis
The BC government should give workers the right to choose whether or not to financially support their union’s political activities.

High costs for seniors
by Brett J. Skinner and Mark Rovere
Seniors in Canada pay more than twice as much as their American counterparts do for identical prescription drugs.

Combating AIDS in Africa
by Thompson Ayodele
High tariffs and poor infrastructure prevent Africa’s AIDS victims from getting the medicines they need.

A question of balance
by Jason Clemens and Niels Veldhuis
Eliminating secret-ballot voting for unions in the United States would undermine the balance of the current system, and would result higher unemployment rates, less investment, and a less prosperous economy.