Mihai Sarbu

Last year Russian President Putin called for a state monopoly on vodka, writes Mihai Sarbu, to address what many consider to be a serious health crisis. He estimated that some 40,000 deaths annually can be attributed to various illegal products sold as vodka. Now, in late 2006, the situation is even grimmer. The local black market is alive and well. Authorities are constantly battling the illegal production of vodka, while the quality of this counterfeit product plummets ever lower. Illegal traders are putting additives in drinks to make them stronger and cheaper, but the result is often lethal. These additives may include cleaners, car-window deicers, and chemicals used for removing rust.

People in developing countries complain about the “brain drain” supposedly practiced by rich countries, writes Mihai Sarbu. This complaint surfaces even among Europeans with respect to the United States. The idea is that the US is stealing the most qualified talent from Europe in an unfair way. But is this bad and unfair, as most in these countries claim? Are “human capital” exports always bad and imports always good?

Mihai Sarbus writes that in Romania the home of Vlad Dracula their hospitals are running out of blood. The number of people volunteering to donate blood has declined steadily in recent years. Health-care professionals fear that joining the European Union will bring crisis-level blood shortages. Why? European regulations forbid any kind of remuneration for this service. Socialism and blood donation are not a good mix.