Cost of healthcare
amplify.comAccording to the Organization for Economic Development we spend $7,960 per person per year for health care in the U.S., totaling about $2.5 trillion. In comparison, the average OECD country spends $3,233 per person annually for health care. The U.S. Government currently covers 46% of U.S. health care expenditures, which means taxpayers foot the bill for $1.13 trillion of health care spending. In other words, taxpayers already pay $3,660 per person of the $7,960 annual bill for health care.
“Political independence is of little value without economic development. It was the task of our leaders in the past to work for political autonomy but now, that it has been accomplished, it is incumbent on the youth to make independence real by economic self-sufficiency...”
—Conrado Benitez (1889-1971), one of the framers of the Philippine Commonwealth Constitution, and was the former dean of the University of the Philippines.
Self-sustainability is true independence. A true test of our self-sufficiency is our 7Eleven Philippines. If more than half of the said convenient store’s products are made in the country or were made by Filipino companies, we are truly self-sustaining and therefore we can stand on our own two feet. Unfortunately this is not so.
Drop in U.S. underground water levels has accelerated - USGS
reuters.comWASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - Water levels in U.S.aquifers, the vast underground storage areas tapped foragriculture, energy and human consumption, between 2000 and 2008dropped at a rate that was almost three times as great as any time during the 20th century, U.S. officials said on Monday.
The accelerated decline in the subterranean reservoirs is due to a combination of factors, most of them linked to rising population in the United States, according to Leonard Konikow, a research hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey.
The big rise in water use started in 1950, at the time of an economic boom and the spread of U.S. suburbs. However, the steep increase in water use and the drop in groundwater levels that followed World War 2 were eclipsed by the changes during the first years of the 21st century, the study showed.
As consumers, farms and industry used more water starting in 2000, aquifers were also affected by climate changes, with less rain and snow filtering underground to replenish what was being pumped out, Konikow said in a telephone interview from Reston, Virginia.
Depletion of groundwater can cause land to subside, cut yields from existing wells, and diminish the flow of water from springs and streams.
Where is all the groundwater going?
Pakistan's Middle Class Extremists
Most policymakers makers believe that the poor are more susceptible to the appeals of violent groups. Counterterrorism policies have therefore often centered on economic development. In Pakistan, however, it is the middle class that is supportive of militant groups. What does this mean for counterterrorism strategy?
Read the article here.
TechGenesis Grants Benefit Central Ohio Start-ups
techcolumbus.orgI think I’ve posted before on how Central Ohio is rich in Tech-Heavy start-ups. However, I haven’t had my fingers resting on the pulse of that industry as my attention has been scattered about with other things in the Region.
To the point: TechColumbus reported that 7 new tech ventures in Central Ohio will each receive $50,000 to fund specific projects and spur their growth. According to the article, these companies will receive the money to advance their product to the point that they can apply for more grants or receive money from investors after showing that these projects are viable.
This is the best kind of economic development. Businesses are not being poached from other areas (regionally or otherwise) and real, new ideas are being fostered, which will lead to legitimate added value and eventually, jobs. It’s a good thing.
What is economic development?
Every Monday I will publish a column on Economic Development. The aim of this column is to identify the sources of economic growth and propose solutions to development challenges around the world. More specifically my aim is to propose solutions to the economic challenges of the least developed countries in the world. These countries are mostly located in Africa, Latin, America and Asia. What do we understand by economic development?
Economic development is the process by which we generate the resources to meet the essential needs that enhance our human experience. I will focus my analyses on three basic economic goods that are a key ingredient of economic development: health, education, and income. These essential goods are statistical components of the Human Development Index (HDI) which is used as a benchmark to evaluate the quality of life in nations around the world. (To be precise, the HDI uses adult literacy, life expectancy, and gross national income per capita as proxies for Health, Education, and income. According to Wikipedia, the HDI was developed by Mahbub Ul Haq, alongside others, based on Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach). Why health, education, and income per capita?
Throughout ages, and across the globe, people want to live longer and healthier. It is therefore natural to include health as a key ingredient of development. As soon as Man can talk he starts searching for panacea.
Throughout human history and civilization, people have sought to expand their knowledge of the world around them and themselves. Prior to the advent of the scientific method, the distinction between knowledge and beliefs was blurry. Since then, we consider knowledge as justified true belief. The justification comes from demonstrating a belief as true using generally accepted methods of inquiry, proof, and demonstration within various disciplines. Philosophers demonstrate, mathematicians prove, scientist repeat experiments under a rigorous set of assumptions, and social scientists hypothesize… By understanding the world around us, we improve the quality of our life and by understanding ourselves as Humans, we find better ways to interact with each other and reap greater benefits from social collaboration.
Income is essential for a good life, because it allows us to procure ourselves goods and services that enhance our utility. I understand income as the value of our production that we exchange for other people’s creations to meet our wants and needs, and pursue what we value in life. If I had more income, this blog entry would be longer.
There are multiple other goods that are universally valued but that I do not include in economic development, because they are not as easily quantifiable. Economics is the discipline that deals with the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy our needs. Analyses of allocation are most easily done with quantifiable means and ends. Happiness is a universal good, but cannot be easily quantified. We can scale happiness nominally, and have no common benchmark to measure happiness from one person to another.
Before we propose ideas that promote development, we will familiarize ourselves with some of the greatest insights of the economic analysis of development. I will introduce these ideas over the next few months by highlighting some of the contributions of my favorite development economists. This list is not exhaustive. There are more great thinkers than I can acknowledge, due to my limited time resource and knowledge. In no rigorous order, I will discuss the contributions of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Maynard Keynes, Roy Harrod and Evsey Dommar, Robert Solow, Robert Lucas, Garry Becker, Amartya Sen, Douglass North, and Jeffrey Sachs. That should keep us busy until summer.
As we discuss the contributions of these eminent minds to the field of economic development, I will also refer to some of their “accessible” work for a lay audience. Keep reading, and feel free to comment. Your feedback is always welcome.
'City Bike Plan Stuck in Rich Rut'
chicagonewscoop.orgGood points about the focus on downtown initiatives at the expense of transportation enhancements for Chicago residents in neighborhoods. by DAVID LEPESKA on chicagonewscoop.org.
“Mayor Rahm Emanuel plans to spend nearly $150 million to make Chicago “the bike-friendliest city in the U.S.” That challenge is considerable, given Chicago’s slow start compared to Portland and other bike-centered cities, and Emanuel’s initial plan is drawing complaints about an inequitable distribution of bike-related investment.
The Chicago Department of Transportation’s $18 million bike share program is to launch next summer with 3,000 bicycles and 300 rental stations–mostly in the central business district and on the North Side. The Bloomingdale Trail, to be built in a 2.5-mile out-of-use rail line extending from Wicker Park to Humboldt Park on the North Side, is expected to cost around $50 million over several years. The city planning commission recently approved designs for a $50 million flyover at Navy Pier, the busiest section of the 15-mile lakefront trail.
Thus far, the the city’s lower-income areas are slated for just one project: A protected bike lane on 18th street, in the ward of Ald. Daniel Solis (25th Ward), though more such lanes could be be added next spring as part of a four-year $28 million construction plan.”
Found article from post in Cycle Collective.
"The Next Metro Economy"
All week Atlantic Cities’ project has pushed out some great work from Bruce Katz (Brookings) and Judith Rodin (Rockefeller Foundation) in “The Next Metro Economy”. “The Next Metro Economy” is a special report from the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation looking at state, local, and regional efforts to revitalize our stagnant economy.
Today’s piece on New York and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s program to create competition among regions of NY for development projects is an excellent read. Here’s a brief overview of the competition:
These councils were given just over three months to create strategic plans that articulated a vision for regional economic development, outlined the implementation process, identified available resources, and established performance metrics. These strategic plans were then judged by a panel of experts, who selected the winning plans and determined how much state funding each region would receive.
In fact, my home geographic locale (North Country) was chosen as one of the four winners.
Four regions won the title “best plan” in the competition, which came with a state investment of just over $100 million each… North Country included an emphasis on high-tech and traditional manufacturing and green energy production as well as investments in area railways, broadband access and medical research.
You can read their full proposal here. For a place that has been long propped up by Fort Drum, state prisons, and a small amount of industry that has slowly moved out over the years, this is certainly a big win for the North Country and its constituents.
