The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. HEALTH  

The FDA approves a new drug to treat severe cases of Alzheimer’s disease.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: General Counsel Sam Kazman finds that a significant majority of physicians think that the FDA is too slow in approving new treatments, drugs and devices:

“FDA reform is frequently attacked as a pet project of big business that will allegedly open the door to snake oil remedies. This characterization is wrong. As these polls demonstrate, for many medical specialists, fighting heart disease and cancer can often mean fighting FDA. If this isn’t a public health problem in need of reform, what is?”

2. TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft makes changes to its upcoming Vista operating system after criticism from regulators in Europe and Korea.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Analyst Peter Suderman on the unfortunate example set by Microsoft’s compromises:

“If anyone isn’t convinced that much of what passes for antitrust hinders technological development, this is prime evidence. In this case, foreign governments (who, for all we know, have little to no expertise in software design) have, for all practical purposes, been given a soft veto over Microsoft’s product functionality. That’s not just bad for business: It’s a terrible and dangerous precedent likely to impede progress in tech markets and have a chilling effect on software designers fearing onerous regulation.”

3. ENERGY

U.S. electrical grids are not expanding fast enough to meet consumer demand for power, according to a new report.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Iain Murray and President Fred L. Smith, Jr. on the lessons learned from the massive 2003 East Coast blackout:

“The massive blackout that shut off lights along the East coast, Midwest and Canada need not have happened. Yet because it did it provides us with a stark warning about how we have allowed minor issues to distract us when it comes to energy generation and distribution. Our economy, lifestyles and prospects rely on access to energy. But we won’t let the electric companies function like normal businesses.”

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI Open Market.

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To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-331-2273 or email to [email protected]