Transcendental good intentions

Good Intentions and Unintended Evil

Relying on Adam Smith's concept of the "invisible hand," every economist can explain how markets react to individual economic power. Markets shape and reshape themselves to neutralize self-interested economic power by coaxing it into channels that serve the public good. But economists have devoted less attention to analyzing how markets systematically counteract coalitions of individuals' polit...

Maintenance of certification: Good intentions gone awry.

Physicians currently practice in an environment of everincreasing scrutiny and review. We are held to performance standards and quality outcomes that meet society's expectations and that are used to gauge the adequacy of our clinical expertise and service. These performance measures have evolved as precise, definitive, quantitative assessments of clinical competency through which we are judged ...

The Sky is Full of Good Intentions

The aim of this paper is to illustrate how System Dynamics can beneficiate small and medium international nongovernmental organisations (hereafter NGOs). As the majority of small NGOs are based on voluntary work, few adopt strategic and professional management to enhance and guarantee their sustainability. Such context rises several challenges which NGOs must learn to recognise and to face. A S...

Dealing with good intentions that go bad.

Q Several patients who had been receiving care at the same dental office recently transferred to our practice. Although their stories were slightly different, the results appeared to be the same. For example, 1 patient stated that she had seen a new dentist for her routine examination and cleaning, and the dentist found a cavity in her lower right molar as well as in several other teeth. After ...

Giveaway drugs: good intentions, bad design.