economics wandered
“Zombies are blue-collar monsters”
-George A Romero
The evolution of my research interests: Zombie Mathematics (link to paper through M-Revolution).
Everyone modeling infectious diseases does this does this at some point, but these students actually took it through publication. Outstandingly absurd, and easily my favorite read this week.
By the graphs I am assuming they modeled with iThink.
“No man is an island… because no man can afford to be”
-John Donne
While the cost of most of life’s necessities (food, shelter) have continued to decrease as a percentage of the first-world budget, the cost of healthcare has risen defiantly. Regardless of one’s stance on the system of delivery, healthcare coverage itself is an undeniable need for every individual.
Its not my place to add to the tired debate, but I did find this CEPR study on the consequences of the present system interesting: it is the american entrepreneur who suffers.
Despite its societal prestige, measures of entrepreneurship within American significantly lags the rest of the developed world. Self-employment, employment within small manufacturing, and small software companies rank near the bottom of all advanced nations.
Why?
The authors hypothesize the high cost of healthcare discourages the formation of small businesses. Essentially tracing the decline of American entrepreneurship to its systematic reliance on corporately provided healthcare. Unable to afford health insurance individually, would-be entrepreneurs choose to remain at corporate posts where health insurance is guaranteed.
Another population segment affected by the system of delivery are divorced woman, and those who would otherwise seek a divorce.
Extending these conclusions proposes the hypothesis that privatized healthcare restricts the individuals freedom of choice by binding them to their source of insurance. Thus village is sustained, and the archipelago prevented. Twisted?
Update:
Economist View citing a WSJ article on the topic.
“Information wants to be free”
-Stewart Brand
Chris Anderson’s latest book builds Brand’s commandment into oracular forecast.
My take is that Web 2.0 did indeed birth a new economy. Its actors continue to pursue their own best self-interest, but their currency has shifted. The societal abundance of “biological and physiological needs” (at least in the G20+) enables individuals to ascend Maslow’s pyramid and focus on “belongingness and love needs.” This new economy parallels the GDP economy. The catch is its coin, reputation, can only indirectly be converted into dollars, if at all.
(The same concept applies to my LeBron James brand valuation quasi-argument.)
Free: The Future of a Radical Price’s mark of excellence in evident in the debate its stirred among pop culture’s social science giants. Gladwell rejects Anderson’s thesis, Godin’s stance (and revenue stream) depends on it.
Currently “free” is a digital lab experiment, but as the matrix continues to converge with the the physical world, the result will become increasingly disruptive. Its worth the coffee table debate, and cleverly available (in limited formats) for free.
“Nature, to be controlled, must be obeyed”
-Sir Francis Bacon
A perfect contradiction lifted from one the modern scientific method’s founders. Despite the tendency to separate “civilization” and “wilderness”, each essential human behavioral tendency has evolved from our experiences with nature, and many of today’s most fundamental theories, from Aristotle, to Bacon, to Galileo, to Darwin, were rooted in keen observations of the natural world.
Using that as my excuse, I took two weeks to explore Colorado’s Wilderness regions on route to the 2009 International System Dynamics conference.
Link to photos from two week in Colorado’s Wilderness regions: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cryhughes/sets/72157621578760457/
Update: Stuff White People Like #128: Camping