"Dallas Buyers Club" is a fascinating story that follows the protagonist Ron Woodroof through his journey following his diagnosis of HIV. The main topic that stuck out to me was the illegal treatment that Ron began selling for AIDS, and the relevance that it has to what we have been talking about recently in class. In the story, Ron is desperate for treatment, but it is not available within the US at the moment, as the FDA is slow to approve things. Given this sticky situation, Ron opts to smuggle in the drugs illegally, and not only use them for himself but also to treat other people who have been diagnosed with AIDS. He eventually transitions this business into a "buyers club" and is working with many clients at his peak, all while the product is entirely illegal.
This was a perfect film to watch given that we recently covered chapter 7 of "The Seen, The Unseen, And The Unrealized." This chapter went into great detail on the difference between "nudging" entrepreneurs in a certain direction via regulation and outright banning certain things via prohibition. In the real world, the government must place regulations on things that they feel need to be influenced in a certain direction. A good example is a government increasing taxes on fossil fuel products, to encourage people to transition to electric products. This would be an example of the "stick," where the government chooses to cram down its agenda. This is in opposition to the "carrot," where they might instead offer incentives for electric product companies to entice people in a more generous way. Regardless, these are both examples of regulation being used in a fair and somewhat harmless way. Prohibition is a completely different story.
In the case of prohibition, the government will outright ban something and make it illegal. An obvious example of this would be alcohol during the early 1900s. Not only does this affect the economy more negatively than regulation and in a much more unbalanced fashion, but it also makes the decision much easier for entrepreneurs. With regulation, an entrepreneur might decide that neither the carrot nor the stick is enough to make him change his practices, and that is entirely his prerogative. But with prohibition, the entrepreneur now faces the law as his opposition, so he must risk a lot more to continue, and yet some people still do.
This can be said of many bootleggers during the prohibition era, and also Ron Woodroof. Being in business outside of the law creates a very interesting dynamic where you are always at risk of getting into trouble, but at the same time, you can charge high prices for goods because the market is completely unregulated with little competition. Again, this can be said of real-life bootleggers and also Ron Woodroof. While most people would agree that the risk is much greater than the reward, it is entirely subjective, and some people are willing to risk it for the biscuit. Prohibition creates some of the most interesting entrepreneurial dynamics ever seen in the world completely inadvertently. That is the beauty of entrepreneurship, regulation, and "Dallas Buyers Club."
Works Cited
BYLUND, PER L. Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives. LEXINGTON Books, 2018.
“Dallas Buyers Club.” Koch Media, 2015.
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