This pandemic, like the Spanish flu at the height of the Progressive era, is a chance for a burst of creativity in policy-making and a commitment to building new institutions.
The issue of drug shortages is a critical one and deserves a sober, evidence-based policy discussion by governments and experts. Generic drug manufacturing should not be nationalized for three reasons.
Governments should govern. When they go beyond their intended purpose, they often fail and frequently fail to achieve the intended or expected result. Examples?
– A government once tried to control the gas industry and created PetroCanada. Where is it now?
– When we demand new or better roads, we are not demanding that government should become a construction company.
A look at Canada’s relationship with the drug companies today demands that we do a better job of working with the industry, encouraging it, making it work for us. But do not fall into the trap of thinking that government can always do better. It can’t.
Governments should govern. When they go beyond their intended purpose, they often fail and frequently fail to achieve the intended or expected result. Examples?
– A government once tried to control the gas industry and created PetroCanada. Where is it now?
– When we demand new or better roads, we are not demanding that government should become a construction company.
A look at Canada’s relationship with the drug companies today demands that we do a better job of working with the industry, encouraging it, making it work for us. But do not fall into the trap of thinking that government can always do better. It can’t.