I already knew about the author’s checkered history before I started the book . So the audiobook put me on the struggle bus. I took a break, found the kindle version and gave it another go. And this time around, I got it. Clearly, if I’m going into a book with an unfavorable opinion about…
Category: Public Policy
There she is..
Its 10 pm on a Wednesday night – the end of an extra busy work day. The living room is a minefield of toys. All counter space is swamped with mail or books. There is an open garam masala box in the kitchen, still waiting to be transferred to its container. You’re reading book#4 for…
Feelings Review: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewel
Losing a 15 year old, who by all accounts is the light of ones life, is not a story that can be made palatable by any measure. So I knew to expect to be uncomfortable going in. And I did. I felt the same discomfort any other parent would feel reading a story like this….
No Word for Blue
It is said that ancient languages did not have a word for the color blue. The Himba tribe in Namibia still does not have a word for the color blue. When shown a picture with blue and green squares, they struggled to identify the one that was blue. So, the question is when you do…
Change Frameworks & Farmer Protests
The ongoing farmer protests gave me an opportunity to better understand what is happening through the lens of two change frameworks. Wants & Needs Framework:The wants and needs framework is premised on the understanding that there are things that people need and do not need and there are things that people want and do not…
Rare Diseases – What are the Socio-economic costs?
I was curious about how the socio-economic costs for rare diseases are quantified and what the results show. This post is a summary of what I found. First lets examine what constitutes cost for rare diseases. There are the direct costs that include – inpatient, outpatient and pharmaceutical costs. There are non-health care costs such…
Rare Diseases – What are known market failures?
I’m going to take a look at rare diseases from the economic lens of three market failures. Negative Externalities Rare diseases impose significant negative externalities on society and healthcare systems. Consider this statistic – In Europe about 30 million people (1 in 17) suffer from a debilitating rare disease Now take a minute to review…
Gene therapy – Does Health Insurance Penetration Matter?
One of the public policy areas I’m most interested to study is rare diseases. So, today’s question that I’m hoping to answer is – among countries with one or more approved gene therapy drugs, what is the insurance penetration in its population. First step – which countries have an approved gene therapy drug? Here is…
India’s Guild of Thieves
A fictional universe is an unlikely source to gain insights into human behavior and public policy. If you read any of Terry Pratchett’s books however, you will soon agree that fantasy often mirrors and explains the world around us with astonishing clarity. The biggest and most populous city in Pratchett’s fictional universe is Ankh Morpork (picture…
The Direct Democracy Experiment
In the ongoing US elections, all eyes are on the tightly contested Presidential race. But equally fascinating and insightful are the several ballot measures that were put to vote across states. From abortion rights to minimum wage, from a continued ban on affirmative action⁵ to gig economy (employment model of Uber and rider share apps)…
Giving Dispassion its Due
Search for lists of top qualities for success, that include passion, and google will return 48,600,000 results. Now search for lists where dispassion is one of the pre-requisites for success and you’ll see a mere 297,000 results. I think it is time to reverse this trend. This is the illusion I’ve lived under for most…