Can Government Fight Epidemics? - Eric M. Staib - Mises Institute

Can Government Fight Epidemics? - Eric M. Staib - Mises Institute: "The vast magnitude of this undersupply reveals not simple dysfunction in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) but rather the necessary failure of central planning.

The problem began simply enough: the DHHS granted itself a monopoly on the production, pricing, and distribution of H1N1 flu vaccines."

"By awarding the total revenue of the project in advance, the DHHS set a rigid cost ceiling for Novartis. It is plausible that Novartis soon figured out that producing 150 million flu shots annually for eight years would take more resources than they could afford to purchase with their maximum possible revenue of $486 million."