Just finished the cover story of the October 2007 Atlantic Monthly magazine. (Yeah, I'm a little bit behind.)
It describes the Clinton Foundation, and specifically the work they did getting AIDS drugs into the third world. What they did was, essentially, work with the manufacturers to ensure a steady demand, then use the power of this demand to lower the price. Now this is a brilliant idea, and more specifically an example of why the free market will never solve our problems.
Clinton didn't demand they give the drugs away, nor did he browbeat the countries into buying expired drugs or anything like that. He simply used the power of the market to serve a public good.
There was a disconnect between the high price of the drugs and the low cost to manufacture them-the price was extremely high, but they were only being sold to the West, so the profits were low. The foundation could show them that there is a demand out there and a way to sell many, many more units at a reduced price. Patients get drugs, drug companies make profits.
What makes me crazy about politics today is that so many people will immediately dismiss this idea because Clinton's name is attached to it. It is exactly this kind of creative energy that is so desperately needed right now, and so utterly absent from the current President.
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