The Competitive Enterprise Institute Daily Update

1. ENVIRONMENT

Al Gore is forced to move his global warming-themed “Live Earth” concert from Washington, D.C. to New Jersey.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy & Global Warming Policy Myron Ebell on the implications of Gore’s policies:                                                                                                

“Mr. Gore envisions a federal takeover of nearly every aspect of the economy and restrictions on people’s individual choices. He has validated Czech President Vaclav Klaus’s recent observation that environmentalism in general and global warming alarmism in particular pose the greatest threat to individual liberty and to prosperity in the world today.”

2. TRADE

The United States signs a major new free trade agreement with South Korea.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Scholar Fran Smith on the opposition to the agreement:

“With the recent signing of the U.S.- Korea Free Trade Agreement, protectionists in both countries are stepping up opposition. In Korea there were homilies against the trade agreement at a Catholic prayer rally and Mass in a rural diocese.  Father Kim Si-young said that the agreement would hurt the poor: ‘Korean society will change to fit an American standard full of competition, and socially weak people will suffer. Following Jesus Christ, who cared for and chose the poor as a preferential option, we have to oppose the FTA.’ Korea has one of the most protected markets in the world, according to the U.S. Trade Representative, with double-digit tariffs on many agricultural products.  As a result, consumer prices are among the highest for many food products.”

3. HEALTH

Democrats in the Senate push legislation allowing the federal government to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Bastiat Scholar Doug Bandow on why drug companies should be wary of getting too cozy with government regulators. 

“The pharmaceutical companies are learning that sleeping with the government results in more than the one-night stand they desired. Legislation to impose price controls on pharmaceuticals purchased through the 2003 Medicare drug benefit will soon hit the Senate floor. Some drug makers may have to learn a second time. Merck’s early efforts to mandate use of its new human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine could similarly backfire. What government gives with one hand it usually takes away with another.”