More Private than Public?

Research and Event Summaries

Event Summary

On January 23rd, the George Washington Center for the Study of Globalization held its first Globalization Faculty Brown Bag. Director John Forrer introduced Muhiuddin Haider (Senior Associate, GW Center for International Health), and Steven Schooner (Associate Professor, GW Law School), as the first of several speakers the GWCSG will host as part of its faculty seminar series. Professors Haider and Schooner are recipients of research grants from the GWCSG, which sponsors projects in various areas of globalization studies. The goal of the Brown Bag series is to examine how each speakers' investigations has impacted his or her views on the globalization debate. Professor Haider's research looks at the role of public private partnerships to improve public heath services in developing countries. Professor Schooner investigates the increased commercialization of U.S. procurement practices. In both projects, the assumption is made that private sector participation is a way to improve traditional public services and that this idea has "global" applications.

Professor Schooner discussed some of the global divides in government procurement. Of primary concern to his research was the role the US and others should play in potentially advising other nations in an effort to make government procurement more effective. Schooner raised three options as possible roads of development:

• Emulate the path that was taken by the United States, potholes and all;
• Learn from the mistakes that the United States made, and attempt to avoid some of the pitfalls;
• Or "skip the walking and go straight to the running".

The goal in each case, he maintained, is to find the proper balance between transparency, integrity, and competition.

Professor Haider spoke on the connections between health and globalization. He reported that spending on health care in developing countries is now (on average) at 1% of total government spending. According to Haider, resource allocation and high debt are mostly to blame. Monique La Rocque, Professor Haider's research assistant, discussed the research they have been conducting and the implications for relationships between the private and public sectors. She explained that their research has focused on four partnerships: "Secure the Future" (Bristol-Myers Squibb), "IMPACT 150; Implementing AIDS Prevention and Control" (FHI), BCHAP—Botswana Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), and AIDSMark/Angola (PSI/Exxon Mobil).

At the end of the discussion, several questions were raised: Among them were:

• Is it an imposition on other people's preferred approaches to export procurement policy?
• What are the implications of governments and private organizations abroad ignoring medical and pharmaceutical patents held by Western companies?

The GW Center for the Study of Globalization
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Email: gwcsg@gwu.edu • http://gstudynet.org/