Policy Report

Consumer groups and the media are putting pressure on public officials to allow U.S. citizens to reimport drugs from foreign countries like Canada. This report concludes reimportation programs or price controls would have a dramatic negative impact on drug development in the United States and, because it is home to a significant research center, on the economy of Massachusetts.

Supporters of parallel trade in pharmaceuticals argue that it lowers prices, which is popular with consumers and cash-strapped governments. But, in fact, parallel trade reduces safety, since it represents an end-run around domestic inspection procedures. More importantly, re-importation undermines intellectual property protection and hence incentives to invest in research and development of IP-based products, which will have ominous implications for consumers in the long run

Escalating federal spending presents a real and present danger to the fiscal health of the nation. The solution to bringing congressional budgeting back under control is personal retirement accounts. They would provide a built-in mechanism to control federal spending, pay off the national debt, eliminate the long-run unfunded liability of Social Security, keep the trust funds perpetually solvent, and boost economic growth

The reimportation of prescription drugs is being pushed not only by big government regulators but also by misguided free market advocates. The result: the effective imposition of foreign price controls on U.S. drug markets and the further erosion of genuine competition. But the cost could be worse than money. Governments that control drug prices routinely sacrifice their people's health in order to save money.

Privacy is central to a free society, but defining its nature is a slippery business. Nevertheless, privacy’s impact on limited government, tort law, criminal law and people’s financial dealings is critical. The failure to protect financial privacy opens individuals up to a variety of assaults from an over-intrusive government.

In the past three years, the federal budget has exploded by more than one-half trillion dollars, under a Republican Congress and a Republican president. This paper presents a specific strategy for cutting programs and streamlining government. The benefits of a reduction in government size and modernization of government mission would be enormous—a windfall that would lower the tax burden and fund new, critical policy initiatives.

Up until now, establishment Washington has assumed that any personal account option for Social Security would involve at most 2 percentage points or so of the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax. But earlier this year, IPI published a plan offering a progressive personal account option for Social Security which involves a much larger personal account option, averaging 6.4 percentage points. That plan has now been officially scored by the Chief Actuary of Social Security regarding how it would impact Social Security, and in particular the long term financial deficits of that program.

Puerto Rico faces a daunting economic challenge at the beginning of the 21st century. The Mainland and Puerto Rico must enter into a new contract that rejects the failed policies of the past. Through the tax, regulatory and fiscal reforms proposed in this study, Puerto Rico can become a thriving international center of commerce and innovation, to the benefit of both the Island and the Mainland.

A well-designed personal account option for Social Security would be substantial, highly progressive, and would provide a broad array of benefits and advantages for working people across the board, including low-income workers, minorities, and others. This study provides a concrete, specific and detailed proposal for reform that delivers on the promise of a true personal account option.

The telecom industry has changed in ways not anticipated by the Telecom Act of 1996. A variety of innovative technologies such as voice over IP, e-mail, instant messaging, and wireless are competing with traditional telecom providers. These technologies are now commonly being substituted for traditional voice telephony, ensuring an abundance of competition in the telecom sector today and into the future, and making prior methods of measuring competition obsolete.