Challey Spotlight: Dr. Raymond March
Assistant Professor of Economics
Raymond March is an assistant professor of economics in the NDSU Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics and a scholar of the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth. He teaches courses in microeconomics, market values, health economics, and the history of economic thought. His research examines the public and private provision and governance of health care in the U.S., particularly in pharmaceutical markets. Dr. March is a research fellow at the Independent Institute and a public choice and public policy fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He received his Ph.D. in agricultural and applied economics from Texas Tech University. Ray and his wife, Amy, live in Fargo with their three children.
Research and outreach highlights:
- The FDA Could Easily Solve the Baby Formula Shortage by Allowing More Imports from Europe
- The FDA and the COVID-19: A Political Economy Perspective
- The Beacon Blog
As a health economist, you look at a lot of complex issues with real world implications. Can you share some broad findings with us? Let’s start with the rising costs of prescription drugs in the U.S., an issue that is debated nationally and in our state.
First, pharmaceuticals are very, very regulated. To get most drugs to a patient usually costs between $1-4 billion and takes about 10-12 years. So for any drug to reach the market, it has to be able to recoup those costs either privately or funded by the government. If it’s funded by the government, it’s being subsidized, and there’s no real reason to lower the price. In North Dakota, you can’t do much to beat back the FDA regulations, but what you can do, and I think we’ve seen some success with this, is deregulate pharmacies. If you have more pharmacies and they are able to compete with each other, they can usually get better rebate offers and improve access to better prices and products for their customers.
[Note: As a Type 1 Diabetic, Dr. March was dedicated much of his research to understanding the cost of insulin. He discusses this work with Dr. Bitzan in a recent video.]
You are co-editing a book about the pandemic and liberty, and you’ve published academic research on the FDA’s response to COVID-19. What lessons should we learn from the pandemic?
One lesson is emergencies dictate deregulation. The FDA started issuing what are called ‘emergency use authorizations’ to make products available without undergoing the usual approval process. This was the story for COVID-19 tests, for the vaccines, for remdesivir, for monoclonal antibodies… So they decided to streamline the process, and we were able to deal with the biggest healthcare problem since the 1918 influenza without sacrificing quality. That’s pretty remarkable, and it makes you question how the FDA was operating before. Another lesson was the role of markets and entrepreneurs in providing solutions. That is one of the themes I wanted to explore in the book.
You recently published an article in Fortune magazine about the baby formula shortage. What was your takeaway in that piece?
The big takeaway is, again, regulations underlying a problem and deregulation as a solution. It’s not the case that all formula is gone. It’s being restricted from entering the market. Different countries have 1) different regulatory standards; 2) different nutritional label requirements; and 3) a lot less regulation; so, you see a lot more diversity of products and cheaper formula in other countries. With more regulation in the U.S., you end up with a concentration of mega producers. So, when Abbott has to shutdown and a third of all U.S. formula doesn’t hit the shelves, there’s no real way to recover. You can import it, but the problem with importing is they have different nutritional labels – not necessarily different requirements, in some cases, but the way the information is presented is different. By FDA standards, you can’t let those products on the shelves. This causes shortages.
Lastly, let’s turn to the classroom. You were recently named a finalist for the Odney Excellence in Teaching Award—congratulations. What inspires you to be a good teacher?
I think economics is the best way to understand the world, especially the social world. I use it in my everyday life. It transformed my life. And I don’t think I could have done any of that without having teachers who felt the same way. This is a very valuable thing you can learn, and I’m happy to share it with students. Being nominated for the Odney Award and getting good teaching reviews, I think, is not a sign that I’m really entertaining or charismatic; it’s a sign of how cool economics is and how much people benefit from learning it.
What impact does philanthropy have on your work?
Without the generosity of countless others who care about similar ideals, I would not have my dream career and be able to advance markets in healthcare. I’m incredibly indebted and thankful for the people who share my passion for ideas and are willing to put forth the money to fight the good fight.
