Fighting never pays

Fighting poverty, fighting AIDS.

J effrey sachs is an economist, not an evangelist. But give the man 10 minutes behind a microphone, and a scholarly symposium starts to feel like a revival meeting. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he tells a hushed hall after describing how AIDS sufferers die in Malawi for want of $1-a-day drugs, “this plague is exploding. Its consequences will make the world quake. Rich countries could stop the devast...

When Punishment Pays

Explaining cooperation in groups remains a key problem because reciprocity breaks down between more than two. Punishing individuals who contribute little provides a potential answer but changes the dilemma to why pay the costs of punishing which, like cooperation itself, provides a public good. Nevertheless, people are observed to punish others in behavioural economic games, posing a problem fo...

Who Pays for Disinflation?

Many economic observers applaud the current rate of inflation in the United States, claiming that the rate is so low that inflation has ceased to matter much in the decisions of individuals and businesses. Some, such as Martin Feldstein (1997), want to see inflation fall still further--to zero--arguing that such a reduction would yield substantial gains by allowing resources to be allocated mor...

Migrants' healthcare: who pays?

Never Say Never in Medicine

F or over two decades I have religiously clung to the notion that maternal hyperglycemia is the root of all evil in pregnancies complicated by diabetes (1). To this end, I have valiantly waved the flag for universal screening for gestational diabetes (2), intensified glucose monitoring (3,4), and intensified insulin delivery for all women with hyperglycemia in pregnancy (5). In addition, I cham...