Ending CDC monopoly = better COVID-19 testing

A Government Monopoly Led to Botched COVID-19 Test Kits, but Private Labs Are Now Saving the Day | Foundation for Economic Education - Ben Johnson:

March 16, 2020 - "The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. As of Friday afternoon, there are 132,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and the global death toll has topped 5,000 people. The fast-spreading virus claimed 196 lives in Italy, on Tuesday alone....

"As the rampaging virus wields its way around the globe, prevention and early detection are key to limiting its reach.... [But] government regulations needlessly slowed the detection process for weeks. Federal regulations barred any labs outside the federal government from developing a test to diagnose coronavirus. When the CDC sent out its test[s] on February 5, it soon learned many of them were defective. The kits produced false positives. The MIT Technology Review explains: ...

FDA rules initially prevented state and commercial labs from developing their own coronavirus diagnostic tests, even if they could develop coronavirus PCR [Polymerase chain reaction] primers on their own. So when the only available test suddenly turned out to be bunk, no one could actually say what primer sets worked.

"The government reversed course on February 29 and allowed private labs to begin developing their own tests. The results have been spectacular.

"The old tests took two to seven days to process.... Within a matter of days of the government dropping its restriction, the Cleveland Clinic developed a test that delivered results within eight hours. The change is due directly to the 'federal government being responsive by changing those regulations,' said Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, at a press conference on Tuesday. The newly instituted, 'unbelievable waiver system' has increased competition by 'bringing the super-large, high throughput companies into the system'....

"An artificial federal government monopoly on testing produced a faulty kit and slowed progress in detecting and fighting the coronavirus. Socialism is an instituted government monopoly, not just on medicine, but on all economic life. The results are inefficiency, a sterile-sounding word until it means that Americans will lose their lives.

"'The great strength the US has always had, not just in virology, is that we’ve always had a wide variety of people and groups working on any given problem,' Keith Jerome, the head of virology at the University of Washington, told the MIT Technology Review. 'When we decided all coronavirus testing had to be done by a single entity, even one as outstanding as CDC, we basically gave away our greatest strength.'

"The basic economic truth that competition improves results lies at the heart of all human endeavor. The enormity of the coronavirus has driven this truth home in grim and unforgettable ways."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/a-government-monopoly-led-to-botched-covid-19-test-kits-but-private-labs-are-now-saving-the-day/

Ontario Liberals plan cannabis monopoly

Ontario LCBO cannabis sales plan a missed opportunity - Michael Schulman, Yahoo Finance Canada:

September 11, 2017 - "Ontario’s plan to sell recreational marijuana through dozens of government-controlled outlets 'is grossly insufficient' in meeting consumer demand and will 'encourage' the growth of the black market, experts say.

"Finance Minister Charles Sousa, Health Minister Eric Hoskins and Attorney General Yasir Naqvi revealed the details of the rollout Friday, which will see 40 LCBO-run marijuana stores — separate from its liquor vending locations —  in place across the province by next July, with that number rising to 80 in 2019 and 150 in 2020. A government website dedicated to online sales is in the works for 2018....

"The Liberal government said the plan will allow the LCBO to sell marijuana at competitive prices, snuff out the black market and boost provincial coffers through tax revenues.... However, experts are skeptical that the distribution model will have its intended effects.

"Anindya Sen, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo, told Yahoo Canada Finance that he is 'disappointed' the province didn’t utilize the existing marijuana dispensaries and that the number of planned LCBO-run stores won’t be enough to meet consumer demand.

'My concern is that the objective of making (dispensaries) illegal is to stamp out the illicit market, but this will do anything but stamp out the illicit market, in fact, it will encourage the growth of an illicit market because there’s simply not enough stores'.... He said that it will also take time and 'a lot of money' to set up these new government-controlled outlets.

"Rosalie Wyonch, a policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute, echoed Sen’s concerns, saying that there are at least 100 marijuana dispensaries and delivery services currently operating in Toronto alone, and the Liberal government’s plan misses the opportunity to take advantage of that foothold in the market.... Wyonch said the dispensaries could’ve been licensed and regulated by the government, rather than being turned into black market competition.

"'Instead, we’ve got these hundreds of business ... owners and all their employees potentially facing penalties if they chose to continue to operate,' she said. 'The levying of these penalities will require significant justice and police resources, so to me it’s just a missed opportunity that we could’ve avoided ... altogether by bringing those retail storefronts into a competitive, legal market.'

"Wyonch added that since the these government-controlled stores will have no legal competition, there’s essentially no incentive to constrain their operating costs, which could, in turn, inflate prices and make it harder to compete with the black market.'"

Read more: https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/marijuana-sales-plan-missed-opportunity-ontario-145849301.html
'via Blog this'

Class action suit against Ontario beer monopolies

LCBO and Beer Store 'sweetheart deal' lawsuit calls for $1.4 billion in damages - Market Business News- Joseph Nordqvist:

December 14, 2014 - "A secret deal signed in 2000 between the LCBO and the Beer Store, limiting competition between Ontario’s provincial and private alcohol monopolies, has resulted in a class-action lawsuit.

"The retail outlets have been alleged of being part of a 'conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize prices of beer in Ontario' and 'participated in illegal and secretive discussions and made agreements relating to prices and distribution areas of beer in Ontario.'

"The class-action lawsuit calls for $1.4 billion in damages. It has not yet been proven in court and the lawsuits need to be given the green light by a judge before proceeding as actions.

"The claim also demands $5-million in 'punitive and exemplary damages.'

"London, Ontario based Siskinds LLP filed the court documents on behalf of David Hughes and a company that operates a restaurant called The Poacher.

"Earlier this week the Toronto Star reported on a secret ‘sweetheart deal’ made between the LCBO and the Beer Store in June 2000.... As a result of the deal Ontarians can, for the most part, only buy larger cases of beer at the Beer Store. Prices of beer at the Beer Store are set by the three Belgian, Japanese, and American brewing companies that own the corporation. Labatt Brewing Company (AB InBev) has a 49% stake, Molson Coors Brewing Company owns 49%, while Sleeman Breweries (Sapporo) has a 2% stake.

"The Canadian restaurant industry group, Restaurants Canada, demanded that the Ontario government cancel this 'sweetheart deal'. It said that it has asked for an investigation to be carried out by the federal Competition Bureau.... According to Restaurants Canada, the deal limits competition and increases the cost of beer in bars and restaurants."

Read more: http://marketbusinessnews.com/lcbo-beer-store-sweetheart-deal-lawsuit-calls-1-4-billion/40861
'via Blog this'