Live Freely, Love Longer; M. More

THEFREEMAN IDEASON UBERTY Live Freely,Live Longer by Max More T he founders of the United States valued "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi ness." Life-healthy and long life-makes possible everything else we value. Without life we cannot enjoy liberty or pursue hap piness. It's also true that without liberty freedom from government and bureaucratic control-we will have shorter lives, and poorer health while we live ..If we do away with the government's growing control over research into life extension and its treat ments, we'll see faster progress towards the longest, healthiest lives ever enjoyed by humans. Extending Healthy Life We humans have long dreamed of pre venting aging and its associated diseases. As molecular biology has matured over recent decades, the dream shows growing signs of becoming reality. Methods already exist for extending healthy human life to 120 or 140 years, though currently this involves a tough low-calorie diet. Potential life-extending substances are being studied, and we are beginning to find aging controls in our genes.

If we can master these, we may be able to prevent and reverse aging, allowing all of us to remain physically and mentally vital. Even today, various nutrients, drugs, hor mones, and diets may be able to halt or slow Mr. More is editor of Extropy and President of Extropy Institute. He has studied at Oxford University and is currently completing a doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern Cali fornia. aspects of the aging process. Drugs such as Deprenyl and Hydergine reportedly slow the rate of brain aging, helping to maintain youthful sharpness and quickness of thought. The hormone DHEA is thought to assist in keeping body fat at youthful levels and strengthens the vulnerable immune sys tems of older people. Substances such as melatonin and thymosin may also help in the fight against aging. Reports indicate that elderly volunteers given human growth hor mone gained considerable muscle mass and strength, their skin thickened, and their immune systems partially returned to their youthful power.

As we continue to unravel the complexi ties of our genetic code at an accelerating rate, we may find ways to intervene in programmed cellular death. This cellular death has prevented even the healthiest human beings from living more than 120 years. In principle, nothing stands in the way of our being able to intervene in this biological process. We just need more un derstanding and better interventive tech nology. What of those who will not live long enough to see these dramatic advances? Even they may have a chance. In the prac tice of "cryonics, " as soon as a person has been declared legally dead (while practically all of their cells are yet alive), the body is filled with protective chemicals and gradu ally cooled to extremely low temperatures. At the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-320°F) all biological activity halts. The person can then wait for years, until cures 304 The Foundation for Economic Education Irvington-on-Hudson, New York 10533 Tel. (914) 591-7230 Fax (914) 591-8910 May 1995 Woeful Bankers A n old Christian saying warns us not to make money our god, for it will plague us like the devil.

Based on this maxim, a few economists admonish us not to place politicians in charge of our money, for they will plague us worse than the devil. Most Americans take heed of the first warning, but few pay attention to the lat ter. Unaware of the dire consequences of political control over money, they appointed "monetary authorities" and authorized them to issue and regulate their money. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 established a central bank with seven governors who in time were to become the regulators and overseers of the monetary system. In 1933, the feder al government expropriated the people's gold coins and replaced them with Federal Reserve notes. In the same year it organized the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which was followed by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). The directors of both government agen cies assumed responsibility for and con trol over the people's bank deposits, Since then a myriad of special laws has tightened the political grip on the banking industry. There are the laws regulating Truth in Lending, Truth in Savings, Fair Housing, the Community Reinvestment Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Acts, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Flood Disaster Protection Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, and various environmen tal acts.

The "war on drugs" gave occasion to the Bank Secrecy Act which forces bankers to reveal all major deposits and withdrawals to the banking authorities and call their attention to suspicious transactions. Failure to comply is called "structuring" and is punishable with fines and imprisonment. In other words, failure to snitch on their depositors is a serious crime. A number of bank tellers and supervisors are lingering in federal penitentiaries paying for their crimes. There is no bank secrecy in the sense of customer privacy; bank secrecy now means the very opposite: secret report ing to the authorities. The authorities scrutinize every aspect of the lending process. Bankers are forced to observe the prescribed proce dures in all details. Phone calls from customers about home loans must be logged, the marital status recorded; loan limits and waiting periods must be observed. What used to be a half-page application form has grown to a multi-page form designed to meet gov ernment edicts.

Banking regulations are crushing the banking industry. Last year (1994) a small-town banker received 2,945 pages of new regulations, amendments, and proposed regulations. For six long weeks five regulators conducted "com pliance examinations," busily comparing books and records with more than ten thousand pages of regulations and searching for violations. The" compli ance examinations" followed the major annual" safety-and-soundness" exami nations. The Community Reinvestment Act forces bankers to give special considera tion to individuals who belong to minor ity groups. It compels bankers to grant loans on the basis of race, gender, and national origin rather than credit worthi ness. The U.S. Department of Justice always stands ready to lend support to the regulators who may mete out stu pendous fines. Their threat alone is enough to make all bankers quite sub servient. Bankers live in constant fear of crimi nal prosecution for violations of banking regulations. Minor infractions such as overdrafts on an executive's checking account call for draconian penalties.

Minor deviations from a regulator's interpretation of a regulation may be penalized severely. Facing their regula tors, most bankers stand at attention, stammering "Yes, Sir," or "No, Sir," "I am truly sorry, Sir," "We will follow your instructions immediately, Sir." Under such conditions it is not diffi cult to reflect on the future of American banking. In the coming years, the num ber of banks (now about 11,000) is likely to shrink through mergers, syndications, cartelization, and other combinations. It takes large law and regulation depart ments to specialize in the intricacies of banking law and engage with the regula tors and their prosecutors. Milliondol lar fines per day are likely to crush most banks except for the giants such as Citicorp with $213 billion in assets or Bank of America with $180 billion. The regulators themselves undoubtedly will applaud the concentration movement as it simplifies and reinforces their control over the industry.

The trait and type of banking person nel is likely to change. Men of character, integrity, and independent judgment will give way to two types which thrive in all kinds of command systems: the servants and bondsmen who obey all orders and the villains who corrupt all orders. The number of banking scandals is bound to multiply in the coming years. While banking itself is bound to linger and wane, related industries offering deposit and loan services will grow and fill the void - provided they escape the banking regiment. The "money market" offering treasury bills, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, and other instru ments beckons for deposits; mutual funds and brokerage funds offer special checking account advantages. Yet, all this banking ersatz will not take the place of old-fashioned banks; the regula tors who sit in judgment of what every sector of the capital market may do will not allow it. Political control over money tends to be comprehensive.

Harassed by regulators and prosecu tors, some bank customers may seek refuge abroad. Since the disintegration of the Soviet system emerging markets all over the world are begging for funds, offering many attractions and high returns for capital fleeing from U.S. reg ulators. The greatest difference between rich countries and poor countries is not so much the quality and effort of labor nor the abundance of natural resources, but the size and vitality of the capital market in which private banks playa pivotal role. U.S. banking laws all.d regulations are straining to create the very condi tions so characteristic of poor countries. Hans F. Sennholz A Special Invitation Spring Dinner Meeting featuring Robert James BidinoUo speaking on "Criminal Justice?" Sunday, May 21, 1995 5:00 P.M. Tarrytown Hilton Tarrytown, New York You are cordially invited to join the trustees, staff, and friends of the Foundation for Economic Education for this exciting event. Robert James Bidinotto, Staff Writer for Reader'sDigestand Freemancolumnist, is the editor of FEE's nationally acclaimed book, CriminalJustice? The Legal System versus Individual Responsibility.Mr. Bidinotto's speech begins at 5:00 P.M., followed by refreshments and dinner.

$45.00 per person; $300 for a table of eight. Reservations required. Contact Janette Brown no later than May 15. Telephone (914) 591-7230; fax (914) 591-8910. June 3 Round Table ~ serve June 3 for our Saturday evening Round Table with Dr. Mark Skousen. His topic: An Economic Outlook: Are We in an Age of gnorance or Enlightenment? Don't miss this stimulating evening, which begins at 5:00 with a reception and dinner, and then goes on to a lively discus sion session. Charge: $40 per person per event; certain discounts are available. Coming Seminars at FEE Austrian Seminar (by invitation) July 9-14 First Summer Seminar July 23-28 Second Summer Seminar August 13-18 Call or write: Dr. Barbara Dodsworth, 30 South Broadway, Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533; (914) 591-7230. Op-Ed Update T he Foundation for Economic Education continues to expand in its efforts to spread the message of liberty. Part of our important work is our newspaper editorial pro gram. Special versions of our best Freeman articles are appearing in newspapers across the country-and around the globe. You can help us to monitor our work. If you see one of our articles in your paper, drop us a line or give us a call.

Classics from von Mises, Read, and Hazlitt Ludwig von Mises Regular Sale Omnipotent Government $14.95 $7.95 Liberalism 14.95 7.95 Notes and Recollections 14.95 7.95 Planning for Freedom 14.95 7.95 The Anticapitalistic Mentality 8.95 7.95 Bureaucracy 8.95 7.95 A Critique of Interventionism 8.95 7.95 Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow 8.95 7.95 Economic Freedom and Interventionism 14.95 7.95 Socialism 14.95 7.95 Leonard E. Read Regular Sale Castles in the Air $12.95 $9.95 Deeper Than You Think 12.95 9.95 To Free or Freeze 12.95 9.95 How Do We Know? 12.95 9.95 Let Freedom Reign ,12.95 9.95 Anything That's Peaceful 12.95 9.95 Who's Listening? 12.95 9.95 Pattern for Revolt 5.95 4.95 Henry Hazlitt Regular Sale The Wisdom of Henry Hazlitt $24.95 $13.95 The Failure of the "New Economics" 24.95 13.95 The Foundations of Morality 18.95 13.95 The Conquest of Poverty 19.95 13.95 From Bretton Woods to World Inflation 14.95 13.95 The Inflation Crisis and How to Resolve It 16.95 13.95 The Critics of Keynesian Economics 19.95 13.95 Sale Ends June 30, 1995 have been found both for what killed him and for the aging process itself. The work ability of cryonics is controversial, but even in its current state of development it may offer a chance of postponing our old enemy, death.

Try to extend your lifespan through med ical technology and you'll quickly discover that the government acts as though it owns your life. If we each individually own our bodies and minds, you would think we would be free to evaluate any longevity extending treatments, and assume the ac companying risk ~nd responsibility. Yet government agenci~s, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and groups with government-gr~~ted privileges (such as state-licensed M.~. 's, whose lobbying group is the American Medical Associa tion), claim the authority to make our choices for us. They treat us as children, constantly needing the protection of the nanny State. Not only does this insult us, but government control, compared to free choice in free markets, does badly at en couraging new and effective life extension technologies. The Government Chokehold Government involvement in life exten sion means b~th funding and regulation.

Research funding by the state means fund ing by taxation. Two major problems arise from tax-funding of life extension research. First, since taxes are compulsory, unlike consumer purchases or venture capital in vestments, the recipients have little incen tive to perform well. If your company is funded by taxes, you need not be so con cerned with cost-effectiveness (remember the $500 military screwdriver?). With money coming not from customers but from taxpayers via the political system, you needn't worry about whether your proposed product is cost-effective. Second, since state funding is brokered by politicians, it will reflect the strength of interest groups and lobbying skills. These have little con nection to the most promising research. Whenever the state involves itself, deci305 sions become centralized and heavily regu lated. Progress in halting aging slows as politicians and interest groups block some kinds of research. Jeremy Rifkin's Founda tion on Economic Trends, for example, has used the government to try to prevent var ious kinds of biotech research. On the free market, any peaceful idea can find funding and proceed if it shows sufficient promise, but in a politically controlled regime new ideas have to fight entrenched interests and their political allies sitting on numerous committees and regulatory agencies.

Much regulation in the life extension arena comes from the FDA. Other civilized countries get by just fine without any equiv alent to this agency, and enjoy access to thousands of beneficial drugs and treat ments years before Americans. For ten years following 1962 (when the FDA gained new powers), not one of the hypertension drugs available in Europe was approved in the United States. The delay before intro ducing beta blockers may have resulted in 10,000unnecessary deaths annually. To de velop, test, and gain approval of a new drug, companies must spend hundreds of millions of dollars and wait eight to ten years. Since 1962, the cost of developing new drugs has increased 50 times faster than inflation and approval time has quadrupled. 1 This isn't likely to change: Regulators tend to be over-tough because if they approve a drug that later causes problems, the blame falls on them. They receive no balancing benefit from rapid approval. 2 The FDA started out small with limited powers, but has grown enormously. Cur rently it's attempting to make vitamins and protein components (amino acids) into pre scription items. A few years ago, when one Japanese manufacturer produced contami nated supplies of the amino acid tryptophan, the FDA seized the chance to ban all sales of tryptophan. This supposedly temporary action has never been reversed. As a result, many thousands of people with sleeping and mood problems have gone back to using far more dangerous tranquilizers, some dying of accidental overdoses or suffering side effects.

306 THE FREEMAN • MAY 1995 The FDA uses SWAT-style raids on vi tamin suppliers who dare to offer "unap proved" information about products they sell. The FDA has been working towards establishing a monopoly on information about drugs and nutrients. If you make claims (no matter how well scientifically supported) that the FDA hasn't sanctioned, you may find yourself held at gunpoint while your office is stripped. FDA agents even threatened to shut down a newsletter printer for the Life Extension Foundation, an or ganization frequently critical of the agency. Some problems caused by the FDA and other agencies come from an unwillingness to recognize life extension as a legitimate aim of medicine. According to the prevailing medical view, enforced by the privileged medical establishment in league with the FDA, medicine should cure disease but not improve our health or capabilities beyond what's normal. Treatments which may al low us to live longer, or better than normal, are not even candidates for approval. A possibly life-saving practice as unusual as cryonics has even more difficultieswith the state. Cryonics has been banned outright in British Columbia, while California agencies did all in their power to make it impossible for cryonics organizations to operate. (The government bureaucrats finally lost in the courts.) Terminal patients may not legally be cryonically suspended voluntarily before clinical death, even though this may greatly improve their chances of eventual restora tion to life.

Freer Markets, Longer Lives The more involved government becomes in life extension research and development, the slower such research proceeds and the more it costs. If we allow the free market to operate, subject only to reasonable liability rules rather than bureaucratic regulations and political maneuvers, innovation will accelerate. When people are free they can experiment in many directions simulta neously. Companies can more quickly offer the results of their research to customers. The incentive to bring products quickly to market will be balanced by caution due to liability for inadequate testing. Rather than all treatments having to con form to state-approved levels of safety, individuals will be free to decide for them selves how much to risk for the expected benefits. We own our lives and are respon sible for them. Decisions about our health and longevity belong to us, not to politicians and bureaucrats who don't know us. The more Americans are shielded from making their own decisions like infants, the more irresponsible and helpless they willbecome.

Granted more freedom, we will also gain more responsibility. Some of the products tried by even well-informed people in a free market may be ineffective or harmful. But progress requires trial and error, and a system that restricts experimentation re stricts the growth of knowledge. Each of us is faced with the difficult challenges of aging and death. Let's not let the state reinforce the death-dealing tenden cies of nature by restraining human intelli gence from tackling the problem of degen erative aging. D 1. See Milton Friedman, Free To Choose (Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1990), p. 206. 2. Sam Peltzman, "Regulation of Phamaceutical Innova tion" (Washington, D.C.,: American Enterprise Institute, 1974).