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Friday, November 20, 2009
 
 
SCHOLARS & FELLOWS
 
John E. Calfee
Resident Scholar
 
 
RESOURCES
 
 
RESEARCH AREAS
 
  • Pharmaceuticals and FDA
  • Economics of tobacco, tort liability, advertising, and patents
Contact E-mail: jcalfee@aei.org Phone: 202-862-7175 Fax: 202-862-7177 Assistant: Elizabeth DuPre Assistant E-mail: elizabeth.dupre@aei.org Assistant Phone: 202-862-7183   Biography
 
Jack Calfee is an economist who studies the pharmaceutical industry and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with the economics of tobacco, tort liability, and patents. He previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Economics. He has also taught marketing and consumer behavior at the business schools of the University of Maryland at College Park and Boston University. While Mr. Calfee's current writings are mostly on pharmaceutical markets and FDA regulation, his academic articles and opinion pieces have covered a variety of topics, from patent law and tort liability to advertising and consumer information. He is the author of Prices, Markets, and the Pharmaceutical Revolution (AEI Press, 2000) and the coauthor of Biotechnology and the Patent System (AEI Press, 2007). Mr. Calfee also writes regularly for AEI's Health Policy Outlook series. He has testified before Congress and federal agencies on various topics, including alcohol advertising; biodefense vaccine research; international drug prices; and, most recently, FDA oversight of drug safety.
 
Experience
  • Visiting Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, 1993-94
  • Associate Professor, School of Management, Boston University, 1990-93
  • Assistant Professor, College of Business, University of Maryland, 1986-90
  • Economist, Special Assistant to the Director for Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission, 1980-86
 
Education
 
Ph.D., economics, University of California, Berkeley
M.A., international relations, University of Chicago
B.A., Rice University
 
Print All Scholar Works
Articles and Commentary [List all]

Controls would take away the industry's incentive to develop new lifesaving medications and therapies.

There is a second world of drug research, a world in which patents do not exist and for-profit research is permanently moribund. Its history should stop "reformers" in their tracks.

A public health care plan would have certain advantages. That's precisely the problem.

 
Books Uncle Sam, M.D.

This collection of essays provides an indication of the range and depth of AEI’s work in health care reform and pharmaceutical policy.

Biotechnology and the Patent System

This book offers a timely discussion of biotechnology patent reform.

Prices, Markets, and the Pharmaceutical Revolution

This book explains why efforts to control drug prices through political means are deeply misconceived and could thwart today's dramatic improvements in health.

 
Events [List all] September 15 Health Care Conference Call

Conference Call: Health Care Reform

On July 22, AEI's health policy scholars provided analysis and answered questions on health care reform during a conference call.

The Five (Not So) Easy Pieces of Health Reform

AEI scholars and other experts will examine the likely impact, feasibility, and support for forthcoming health care reforms.

 
 
Speeches and Testimony [List all] What Can the European Union Do to Sharpen Its Innovative Edge in Pharmaceuticals?

There are good reasons for the European Union to worry about the health of its pharmaceutical firms, but fortunately there are things it can improve.

Supreme Court Amicus Brief Regarding Wyeth v. Diana Levine

The U.S. Supreme Court recieved an amicus brief on FDA regulation.

FDA Preemption of State Tort Liability Lawsuits on FDA-Regulations Drugs and Devices

The commonly held view that state tort liability litigation can do much good and little harm because it provides added protection to patients and consumers is largely unsupported.