But never mind -- Stossel, also a popular columnist with Creator’s Syndicate, just wants to get out the truth.

You’ll find lots of great tidbits in his columns, “20/20” segments and in his books. (He also wrote the New York Times best-seller “Give Me a Break.”) In “Myths,” for instance, Stossel takes on the common belief that “drug companies are evil price gougers.” Politicians routinely pander to this sentiment, promising to protect poor, defenseless consumers. The truth is, as John points out: “The higher the price of drugs, the more good drugs we get.” He explains:

“Drugs don’t just suddenly appear. Thousands of researchers work tirelessly to develop them. Most attempts fail. But the few successes repay the cost of the failures. … The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development says the average cost of developing a new drug is a staggering $802 million. … The hated pharmaceutical companies make big profits, but I want them to make big profits because they have to make huge investments, suffer lots of failures and go through 10 to 15 years of testing before they can bring me the drugs that might save my life or alleviate my pain.”

Think government might do a better job? Like, say, the fine job it does running your average motor vehicle administration? Going down to your local MVA is like visiting a museum of what life was like in the old Soviet Union. And how about the post office? Is it just possible that the free market could help there? When it comes to delivering packages, John says, it has: FedEx, UPS and other private companies use the power of competition to bring you a better product for less money. (Even the post office has benefited here, offering “Express Mail” on packages.)

The fact is, there’s nothing the government can bring us that some good old-fashioned free-market capitalism can’t give us better and cheaper. The free market may be fueled by “greed,” but the fact that it’s free means that businesses must serve people to get their profits. They must deliver a superior product or watch themselves go out of business. A government monopoly, whether in health care or any other market, means less innovation, less efficiency and a lower quality of life.

Healthy, free-market competition flat out makes life better. Read Stossel’s book and you’ll be able to argue this truth with confidence.