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Are Fake Prescription Drugs Killing Us?

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:40:00 EDT

"What would have cost tens of thousands of dollars...can now be done for hundreds of dollars, so it's easier to fake stuff now," warns Roger Bate, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the author of "Phake: The Deadly World of Falsified and Substandard Medicine."

Counterfeit, adulterated, or otherwise compromised prescription drugs are a major problem in Africa and a growing problem in the First World, argues Bate. In recent years, counterfeiters passed off hundreds of thousands of phony Lexapro pills around the globe and in 2008 at least 149 Americans died from fake Heparin, a blood-thinning drug. All told, says Bate, the number of deaths globally from ineffective drugs ranges from 100,000 to 1 million.

As drug production moves to China and other developing nations where oversight is tougher to maintain and more sales take place online where provenance can be tougher to ascertain, Bate says that the most viable solution is increased vigilance on the part of drug makers, providers, and patients alike. He looks forward to a fast-approaching world in which hand-held spectrometers verify pills on the spot and praises various online-pharmacy certification programs.

Referring to the classic 1949 film, "The Third Man," in which Orson Welles plays a drug counterfeiter whose watered-down penicillin in post-war Europe leads to the death of several children, Bate gives Hollywood credit for being well ahead of the curve on putting the spotlight on what he calls "the 2nd oldest profession."

About 7 minutes. Interview by Nick Gillespie (follow him on Twitter at @nickgillespie). Produced by Anthony L. Fisher, with camera by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain.

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Haiti's Pepe Trade: How Secondhand American Clothes Became a First-Rate Business

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:00 EDT

"Haiti has practically become a trash can," says Ketcia Pierre-Louis, "where everything people in other countries don’t need comes here."

Pierre-Louis is a businesswoman and affiliate of the Croix-des-Bouquets Chamber of Commerce, just outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Like many critics of imported second-hand clothing, which is known locally as "pepe," she believes the practice undercuts domestic businesses and industries. Some have even called for the government to ban the practice.

But Haiti's pepe trade is decidedly a business—not a charity. In fact, it starts with Haitian Americans buying goods at U.S. thrift stores and shipping products to Port-au-Prince and other ports. Pepe may include hand-me-downs, but the clothing is high-quality, stylish, and cheap. More important, average Haitians prefer the choice of wearing such apparel—and brands like Polo, Lacoste, and Converse—to not having access to such products at all.

Far from turning Haiti into a trash can, the market in pepe shows how buyers and sellers enrich each other through exchange.

Produced by Tate Watkins and Jon Bougher.

Approximately 4 minutes.

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Will More Taxpayer Money Solve the Debt Crisis? Anthony Randazzo on Freedom Watch

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

Reason's Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo joined a panel on Freedom Watch to discuss a recent shift in policy as the Treasure Department begins to resist funding the ECB to bailout European debt. The panel also discuss the politics behind the debt ceiling in America. Air Date: January 25, 2011.

Approximately 6.27 minutes.

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Ranking Economic Freedom with The Heritage Foundation's James Roberts

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

"Economic Freedom peaked about seven or eight years ago in the U.S. and has been dropping since then," claims James Roberts, Heritage Foundation Research Fellow and co-author of the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom.

For over a decade the Heritage Foundation has been ranking countries based on a number of indices, including open markets, regulatory efficiency, and the size and scope of government. Due primarily to costly regulations and rapid government expansion, the tenth-place United States’ declined in the rankings for the fourth straight year, behind Hong Kong (#1), Australia (#3), Switzerland (#5), Canada (#6) and Ireland (#9). Even Maruritius, a small island off the coast of Africa, was seen as a more economically free.

Roberts sat down with Reason’s Matt Welch to discuss the Index, the state of free enterprise in the world, and the decline of economic freedom in Europe and North America.

About 6:30 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg and Joshua Swain and edited by Bragg.

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George Gilder on "The Israel Test," the Internet, and...the Gays?

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:00:00 EDT

"What [President Barack Obama] is doing to the U.S. energy economy couldn't be done with a nuclear bomb," says author George Gilder, who adds that if "Newt [Gingrich] wasn't such a jerk," he'd make a great leader.

Over the past 40 years, Gilder has been not just one of the most influential public intellectuals but one of the most perplexing. He's a utopian visionary who simultaneously predicted the rise of the World Wide Web and the liberatory power of networked computing while fretting that the erosion of traditional gender roles is destroying the country; as co-founder of The Discovery Institute, he's a major proponent of intelligent design theory as well.

His 1981 best-seller, Wealth and Poverty, made such a persuasive case for what became known as supply-side economics that it became the bible of the Reagan Revolution. In it, Gilder used the work of anthropologist Marcel Mauss to argue that capitalism is a "gift economy" in which entrepreneurs create demand by offering up new goods and services, typically at a loss. Visonary volumes such as Microcosm (1989) and Life After Television (1990) anticipated the rise of the Internet as a mass medium that would replace hierarchy with "hetarchy" or distributed intelligence and power. His latest book, The Israel Test, argues that anti-Semitism and the anti-capitalist mentality are effectively the same thing and that Israel provides the best-available model of social organization, a blend of knowledge-based economy and group identity.

A proponent of intelligent design, he railed against Barry Goldwater's anti-intellectualism in 1966's The Party That Lost Its Head and argued that American society was committing "sexual suicide" in a 1973 book of the same name by embracing female equality. The supposed existential threat posed by unmarried men in American society is a recurring theme in Gilder's oeuvre, as is the dread fear that gays are actively recruiting boys to the "homosexual lifestyle." Fully appreciating how the World Wide Web has broken the monopoly of the culture industry in our lives, Gilder nonetheless bemoans the state of "secular culture" as "corrupt" and "depraved."

At FreedomFest 2011, Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Gilder to talk about the mix of the utopian and the apocalyptic in his work.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 libertarians and advocates of limited government. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks. For an ever-growing playlist, go here now.

About 21 minutes. Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Jim Epstein and edited by Meredith Bragg.

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Free or Equal?: Johan Norberg Updates Milton & Rose Friedman's Free to Choose

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Swedish economist Johan Norberg is the host of the new documentary Free or Equal, which retraces and updates the 1980 classic Free to Choose, featuring Milton and Rose Friedman. Like the Friedmans, Norberg travels the globe to look at the conditions under which prosperity and freedom flourish - and under what conditions they wither and die. Made by the same producer who created Free to Choose, Free or Equal will be appearing on PBS in 2011. For more information, a clip of the new documentary and the entire Free to Choose series, go here.

Norberg is the author of numerous books, including In Defense of Global Capitalism (2002) and Fiscal Fiasco (2009), a look at how the U.S. government's policies contributed to and have exacerbated the length and intensity of the Great Recession.

Reason's Nick Gillespie sat down with Norberg to discuss how the changes in the world since the Friedmans' earlier documentary effect their basic argument that individual economic freedom is a building block for a prosperous and open society. Overall, says Norberg, the Friedmans' basic insights hold true and some of the places they celebrated - such as Hong Kong, then under British protection and now part of the People's Republic of China - are still flourishing. But in countries and regions that continue to constrain economic and political liberties, reports Norberg, fear and privation still dominate.

About 6 minutes. Shot by Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain; edited by Swain.

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For an earlier Reason.tv interview with Norberg (about his book Fiscal Fiasco), go here.

Nick Gillespie Talks National Debt on FBN's Stossel

Fri, 27 May 2011 13:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie joined Stossel to discuss ways of fixing the national debt. Air Date: May 26, 2011.

Approximately 5:00 minutes.

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Bernie Sanders' War on Chinese Bobbleheads!

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EDT

In the midst of a massive fiscal crisis, a take-no-prisoners budget battle, a historically long recession, and two (make that three) wars, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) knows what really matters.

He's pushing the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to only sell bobble-heads, T-shirts, snow-globes, and other souvenirs that are made in America. After getting a letter from and taking a meeting with the self-described Green Mountain State socialist, the folks at the Smithsonian have agreed to increase the amount of domestically produced junk for sale in their gift shops. They're even constructing a new gift shop solely to products manufactured in America that will be called the Price of Freedom.

During a recent trip to the National Mall, Reason.tv found that such nativist grandstanding plays well with the man in the street, but CATO policy analyst Sallie James says protectionism doesn't come cheap. In fact, top-down attempts to keep Americans in low-level manufacturing jobs is a great way to ruin the economy, whether we're talking about Founding Father thimbles or higher-end electronics.

Produced by Joshua Swain, with help from Meredith Bragg, and hosted by Michael Moynihan.

Approximately 3 minutes.

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Slashing Spending in Post-Soviet Slovakia

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

Since the end of communism in 1989, Slovakia has experienced rapid economic growth by privatizing industries and liberating its markets, allowing its citizens to enjoy the same standard of living as their Western European neighbors. However, government spending is still out of control.

Richard Durana, director of the Slovakia Institute for Economic and Social Studies and the project The Price of the State, sat down with Reason.tv to explain how his group is working to educate Slovaks that many services currently provided by the government could be delivered more efficiently by the private sector.

Approximately 5.03 minutes.

Interviewed by June Arunga. Camera by Jim Epstein and Josh Swain. Editing by Swain.

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Anthony Randazzo Discusses Bernake Controlling Inflation on Russia Today

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Reason Foundation Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo appears on Russia Today's The Alyona Show to take issue with Ben Bernake's confidence that the FED can control inflation while continuing quantitative easing. Airdate: December 6, 2010.

Approximately 7.48 minutes.

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Liberty for Africa: Q&A with Adedayo Thomas

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 EDT

Spreading a message of liberty and free markets across Africa, where corruption and nepotism are depressingly common, is a daunting task - but not for Adedayo Thomas. Thomas, a Nigerian political activist and publisher of AfricaLiberty.org, has embarked on a cross-continent speaking tour to introduce to some of the most remotest areas of Africa to the ideas of libertarianism.

Recently Reason.tv's Micheal Moynihan sat down with Thomas to discuss how his ideology changed over time, how he's using African concepts to communicate the ideas of classical liberalism, and to discuss his favorite French philosopher, Frederic Bastiat.

Approximately five minutes.

Shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes. Edited by Joshua Swain.

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Sweden: A Supermodel for America?

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:00:00 EDT

To the American mind there may be nothing more quintessentially Swedish than the leggy, blond supermodel.

But there's another Swedish model that inspires almost as much admiration—the Swedish economic model. With a generous welfare state and high living standards, Sweden seems to prove that socialism works. Much of the hope that swept Barack Obama into the White House rests on the belief that America could reach new heights under a regime of enlightened progressivism, that we could be more like the Swedes.

Not so fast, warns Stockholm University sociologist Charlotta Stern: "If an American told me that the US should be more like Sweden I would say I don't think it's possible." The United States can centralize its health care system and pass other laws that mimic Sweden's welfare state polices, says Stern, but it's impossible to replicate a culture that allows those policies to operate about as smoothly as possible. Swedish bureaucracies inspire trust, but their American counterparts (DMV, TSA, IRS) inspire punch lines, if not outrage.

But America could emulate some of the Swedish policies that don't require extensive bureaucracies. Take school vouchers. Teachers unions in America regard the idea as free-market radicalism, but families in Sweden enjoy universal school choice. Sweden adopted its famously progressive policies during the 1970s, but after years of sluggish economic growth the land of ABBA altered its course in the 1990s, adopting a host of free-market reforms, from deregulation to tax cuts.

Although much of the disco-era welfare state remains, economist Andreas Bergh credits the free market reforms with reviving his nation's economy. "Sweden is moving in the market economic direction," says Bergh, "but that does not mean America should be moving in the socialist direction."

What if the two nations continue on in different directions? Maybe some day when America is looking for a way to rejuvenate its economy, pundits will point to a different kind of Swedish model. One that increases individual choice and competition.

"Sweden—A Supermodel for America?" is produced by Daniel B. Klein, and written and produced by Ted Balaker, who also hosts. Shot by Jonathan Liberman and Henrik Devell, with additional production support by Zach Weissmueller and Sam Corcos and post production by Hawk Jensen and Austin Bragg. Special thanks to Niclas Berggren, Martin Borgs, Nils Karlson, and the Ratio Institute.

Approximately 6.00 long.

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How to Save a Dying Ocean

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 04:00:00 EDT

The Gulf of Mexico continues to gush oil just as a whaling controversy threatens to land Australia and Japan in international court for killing protected species. Meanwhile, another less-publicized but arguably more cataclysmic oceanic disaster continues to worsen.

Overfishing threatens to destroy most of the world's fisheries within a matter of decades. But while it's proven difficult to save the gulf or save the whales, we know how to save the fish: Stop treating the ocean like a public bathroom, says Christopher Costello, a professor of natural resource economics at UC Santa Barbara.

Director Louis Psihoyos and his team of filmmakers embarked on an elaborate sting operation to expose Japan's illegal dolphin hunters. The result is a documentary called The Cove, which took home the Oscar for best documentary. And days after the Academy Awards Psihoyos was back stirring things up.

Using the same cameras that were used to expose illegal dolphin hunters, Psihoyos and his team busted The Hump, a Santa Monica, California restaurant that had secretly been serving sushi made from the endangered sei whale.

"Everything in the ocean from the great whales to dolphins to plankton is being jeopardized," Psihoyos tells Reason.tv. "We're raping and harvesting the ocean unsustainably."

Overfishing "could mean the end of certain species," agrees UC-Santa Barbara's Costello. He points out that about a third of the world's fisheries have already collapsed, and many more are heading toward the same fate. Costello says the world's fisheries are in such bad shape because of the same reason public restrooms are typically foul places: "Nobody owns them. Nobody has the incentive to keep them up."

One proven solution is a system called "catch share," in which fishermen have the right to a certain share of the total catch of a type of fish. This form of ownership gives fishermen an incentive to make sure fish populations grow, and according to Costello's worldwide research, it's the only thing that seems to work.

Environmentalists are often suspicious of the profit motive, but from Alaska to New Zealand, market forces have been harnessed not for plunder but for preservation. Fishermen like the system because they make money, and environmentalists like it because it supports sustainable practices. Expanding the catch share system may well be the best way to save a dying ocean.

"How to Save a Dying Ocean" is written and produced by Ted Balaker, who also hosts. The associate producer is Paul Detrick, the cameramen are Hawk Jensen and Alex Manning; Zach Weissmueller also helped to produce the segment. Animation by Hawk Jensen.

Approximately six minutes.

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Sweden's March Towards Capitalism

Wed, 12 May 2010 06:28:00 EDT

In The Capitalist Welfare State, Lund University economist Andreas Bergh explains how Sweden has managed to increase economic productivity despite its large public sector.

Bergh says that despite popular mythology, Sweden is not a socialist success story but instead owes its economic growth to the lowered tax rates and deregulation of the early 1990s, which allowed innovation and investment to flourish. Bergh also discusses how Sweden's national voucher program revitalized the country's educational system and warns that Americans who are hoping to emulate Swedish success by growing the public sector are learning the wrong lessons from Sweden.

Produced by Ted Balaker and Daniel B. Klein; filmed by Jonathan Liberman and Henrik Devell; edited by Zach Weissmueller; with special thanks to Niclas Berggren, Martin Borgs, Nils Karlson, and the Ratio Institute .

Approximately 10 minutes long.

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Tim Cavanaugh Talks Greece's Financial Troubles on Fox Business' Cavuto

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:27:00 EST

On March 9, 2010, Reason's Tim Cavanaugh discussed Greece's financial problems on Fox Business' Cavuto.

Approximately 5 minutes.

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And come back to Reason.tv March 15 through March 19 for the debut of Reason Saves Cleveland With Drew Carey: How to fix the "Mistake on The Lake" and other once-great American cities, an original six-part documentary series.

Anthony Randazzo Discusses the Greek Debt Crisis on RT

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST

The Reason Foundation's Director of Economic Research Anthony Randazzo discusses the Greek debt crisis and what it means for the E.U. and U.S. on Russia Today's Alyona Show, February 11, 2010.

Approximately 7 minutes.

"It's Our Turn To Eat"

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Michela Wrong, author of It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower, a riveting and deeply disturbing account of John Githongo's tenure as Kenya's anti-corruption czar. Githongo made the mistake of taking his job title seriously—and quickly had to flee his homeland with evidence of wide-scale graft and tribal discrimination that has crippled Kenya since independence.

The author of I Didn't Do It For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation and In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on The Brink of Disaster in Mobotu's Congo, Wrong brings a journalist's eye for detail to an unparalleled body of work that explores and explains why post-colonial Africa has struggled so greatly with economic, social, and political development.

"What the Kenyan case showed—and it's true of many African countries," says Wrong, who refuses to romanticize a continent she passionately cares about, "is that you cannot pretend to help a country if you do not cast a very critical eye on the politics of the day. And if you have a government that's busy stealing, there is no point in continuing to spout the sermon about helping and aid."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot and edited by Meredith Bragg.

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Mexicans and Machines

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:00:00 EDT

Campaign season is just getting warmed up, but looking back on the primaries we’ve already seen plenty of the usual fare: candidates shaking hands, hanging out at diners, and scaring voters about foreigners who are taking your jobs.

Sometimes the threat comes from China, Japan, or outsourcing to India. Today, it’s NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement—you know, all those Mexicans taking our jobs.

Senator Barack Obama joins the likes of CNN’s Lou Dobbs in decrying NAFTA. So many free trade foes fret about cheap foreign labor, yet they rarely holler about competitors who will work for far less than any foreigner. Politicians don’t pay much attention to it, but—from Terminator to Ice Pirates—Hollywood films have been warning us about humanity’s inevitable war against the machines.

“Now, think about it,” says Reason.tv host Drew Carey. “How are we supposed to compete against something that doesn’t get paid, doesn’t get health insurance, and never goes on breaks?”

Today, we don't need human workers to book our travel, do our banking, or file our taxes. From factory workers to symphony conductors, countless workers are locked in battle with soulless job stealers known as computers, websites, and robots.

“No job is safe from the robot threat!” warns Carey. Of course, the warning is more than a little tongue-in-cheek. There’s no need to take a sledgehammer to a robot, because, although technology shakes up the labor market, it ends up giving us higher living standards as well as more and better job opportunities.

Like technology, trade gives us more good stuff than bad—yet Americans are likely to cheer technology and fear trade. No doubt TV talkers and White House wannabes will keep stoking our fears of foreigners until voters and viewers stop buying it—or until robots snag their jobs, too.