In this issue:

Don't Believe Everything the "Experts" Say About Health Care
by David Gratzer
Experts oppose the "user fee" approach to health care because they believe that fees deter people from obtaining necessary care.

How to Ruin a Good Idea-Lessons from the British Columbia Ministry of Health
by Cynthia Ramsay
The BC Ministry of Health has good ideas. But when it comes to implementing them, the Ministry seems unwilling to give up any of its control over the system.

Patient Empowerment in Europe
by Paul Belien
Here are how several European nations have tried to implement health care reform policies while preserving the quality and equity of medical care.

Controlling Drug Costs
by Bill McArthur, MD
Pharmaceutical costs have been escalating for years. While many nations have attempted to constrain their pharmaceutical costs, no solution has been unixersally effective.

Judging Health Care
by Owen Lippert
Why is it that governments ask judges to lead royal commissions on health care?

Do the Poor Have More Children?
by Chris Sarlo
The idea that the poor have many more children is false. If it ever was true, it certainly is not so in recent years.

Calm in Hong Kong
by Michael Walker
Hong Kong is calm in the face of the Asian monetary crisis because it has adopted a currency board; for every Hong Kong dollar issued, a US dollar held in reserve backs it up.

Is There a Youth Unemployment Crisis in Canada?
by Marc Law and Fazil Mihlar
These authors argue that the youth unemployment problem in this country is much smaller than we are led to believe.

February Questions and Answers
by Joel Emes
Recent research asserts that the governments of the industrialized countries are too big; how does Canada fit in?

Spousal Support-Heads She Wins, Tails He Loses
by Karen Selick
It seems that no matter what course a couple's married life took, the wife can always find some reason to claim spousal support. It's all enough to make this lawyer ponder giving up practicing family law.

The Ricardian Equivalence Theorem: Back to the Future?
by Marc Law and Jason Clemens
How a government chooses to finance its expenditures is irrelevant for real economic activity. This is important in the current debate about how to spend the fiscal surplus.

Let's Talk about the Weather
by Laura Jones
Should the latest weather events be blamed on global warming? Those familiar with the science of climate change are dismissive of the media hype.

National Income and the Ice Storm
by Filip Palda
The ice storm proves that Statistics Canada's measures of national income need revision.

Dividing Up the Dividend
by Gordon Gibson
Ottawa should phase out the CHST and lower federal taxes by the same amount.

Solving the Urban Drug Problem: An Agenda for a Rational Debate
by Patrick Basham
In many North American cities, substance abuse is public health enemy number one. We need a public debate about drug policy.

Monopoly and Telephony
by Mark Weller
Here's why government-erected barriers can prevent new technologies from developing.