Ed Hudgins, Advocate

Last July 18, Edward L. Hudgins, the director of TOC's Washington, D.C., office, spoke at a press conference in the Capitol building on the drug re-importation issue. The question is whether to allow Americans to re-import from Canada pharmaceutical products that American companies have shipped to that country for sale. The prices for those products in Canada are below the prices in the United States because of Canadian government price controls. Hudgins observed that the policy debate seems to pit against each other two free-market principles: the free trade of American citizens and the property rights of pharmaceutical companies. But, he pointed out, free-trade rights exist only as an aspect of property rights, and therefore companies should be free to set whatever terms they wish—including resale bans—on the purchase of their products. He also spoke against those on the Left and the Right who are denouncing the drug companies as profiteers.

On July 21, Hudgins spoke to several dozen foreign visitors on the topic: What should be privatized? Hudgins began the discussion with a look at the basics. He observed that to survive and prosper, individuals must be free to use their rational minds and to own property. The function of government is to protect individuals' rights to do those things. Thus, beyond the operation of police forces, court systems, and a few other institutions, all human—and certainly all economic—activities should be private. Hudgins then discussed the inherent problems of government ownership and highlighted the successes of a private market in creating both wealth and a society based on mutual consent and individual achievement.

On July 23, Hudgins spoke to a group of Heritage Foundation interns and offered his thoughts on the disastrous moral and economic effects of attempts by Congress and the Bush administration to expand Medicare.

On August 10, the Washington Times printed an op-ed by Hudgins on the moral confusion revealed by the spread of West Nile virus, via mosquitoes, and a "wetlands" policy that strives to salvage every bit of damp earth. He was also interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Orlando Sentinel regarding the reports on the space-shuttle disaster.

Continuing his new weekly e-mail feature, "Report from the Front," Hudgins took the occasion of Louis S. B. Leakey's centenary to reflect on the political and cultural implications of the anthropologist's work. Other topics in his recent "Reports" include: law as the guarantor of liberty; Japanese collectivism; Al Franken's claim that people are not responsible for their success; and a meditation on the philosophy lesson of 9/11.