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The fact that it cost merely 10B to get polio infections to this point is an depressing indictment of the greed that consumes the modern world. How else could
by throwaway2048 7y ago
The fact that it cost merely 10B to get polio infections to this point is an depressing indictment of the greed that consumes the modern world.
How else could 10B save or massively improve tens/hundreds of millions of lives.
- allovernow 7y agoSeems your underestimating how much research and infrastructure was required for eradication. This isn't just evil greed money going straight to the pockets of cold CEOs. All those scientists, doctors, lab techs and everyone associated with the manufacture of vaccines/drugs have to eat.
- throwaway2048 7y agoWhat im saying is it cost _only_ 10 billion, meanwhile 10s of billions are regularly spent on things of comparatively trifling consequences.
- beambot 7y agoLike $13B per aircraft carrier: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_R._Ford-class_aircraft_carrier https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_R._Ford-class_aircraf...
- wolco 7y agoI'm selling the most expensive sandwich for 11B if anyone is interested.
- im3w1l 7y agoSafeguarding freedom and democracy is not a small trifle.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoIndeed, which is why you should spend the money judiciously, instead of on something wildly expensive vulnerable to a relatively inexpensive supersonic cruise missile.
- s1artibartfast 7y agoBeing wildly expensive and vulnerable does not necessarily mean it can't provide $13B of value
- toomuchtodo 7y agoSure, but evidence is required said value is being provided. Otherwise, you’re arguing a rock is providing safety against tigers because there are no tigers around.
- pkaye 7y agoLike $100m that was ~~~spent~~~ wasted on Juicero. I was listening to the scientist working on the UCSF kidney project and he was estimating it would cost around $100m to successfully get his project through FDA testing. And it was a long rocky road for him to get where it is now. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/juicero https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/juicero https://pharm.ucsf.edu/kidney https://pharm.ucsf.edu/kidney
- marcosdumay 7y agoThat's a great question, and there are very likely a few places we can throw 10B on and completely change the fate of Mankind, but we don't do that because the gains are not excludable.
- zozbot234 7y agoThe gains of polio eradication are not excludable, either. The effort is being funded by governments and charities, not profit-driven actors.
- maxerickson 7y agoGovernments and charities should be acting in an economically rational manner though. For instance, if they can spend $1 for $2 of benefit, they should probably do that before they spend $2 for $3 of benefit. This is kind of a slippery point, because they are often engaging in activities where the benefit is hard to measure, but their activities should still appear rational relative to their best measures of the benefits.
- im3w1l 7y agoA government would do both and borrow. It's when you have programs costing $2 for $2.05 benefit that people start thinking twice.
- selimthegrim 7y agoAn issue now in the (former) tribal areas of Pakistan is that people are using their kids as bargaining chips with the government for other services they feel are due to them https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/pakistan-polio-comeback-vaccine-boycotts-191226142838246.html https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/pakistan-polio-co...
- catalogia 7y agoGovernments around the world spend almost two trillion dollars a year on militaries. With only a tiny fraction of that you could blanket regions suspected of harboring Polio with para-dropped doctors. So much for the "knapsack" problem mentioned elsewhere in this thread. But governments around the world care more about shaking big sticks at each other than eradicating polio.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]