What is Health?

Given my recent immersion into the world of hospitals, health, weakness, infection and catheters due to the complications from my mother's recent "routine" surgery, this article in the NY Times caught my eye.

Why do we all persist in treating health like a bankable asset? Is it the solidity of our flesh and bone? The lab reports that look like bank statements? Either way, the operant fiction is that with diligent adherence to expert advice, pretty much anyone can sock away a nice little stash of health for the future.

In fact, though, health is the opposite of a commodity. It flits around like Tinkerbell, defying all the best intentions and predictions. No one can really articulate what the word means; no two people understand the concept in exactly the same way. And that includes you and your doctor.

The era of Reagan and Thatcher is over?

Here's a quote from the FT today:

David Rothkopf, a senior Commerce department official during the administration of President Bill Clinton, says the world is at a turning point. "This is a watershed," he says. "This is the end of 25 years of Reagan-Thatcherism, 'leave it to the market, less government is better government'. That is over – period."

Do you agree? Disagree? Is this good? Bad?

An interesting take on the bail-out

From NY Times Executive Suite Blog...

Secretary Paulson has told us since last week that he's late, he's late for a very important date and has no time for a reasonable legislative debate (although willing to indulge in the "hello/goodbyes" of Congressional testimony, provided it doesn't take too long). But instead of following him through the looking glass, like naïve and curious Alice, let's pause and take a peek though the glass before taking the leap of faith the Treasury and Fed are asking of us.

As with Alice's Wonderland, a lot of what Bazooka Hank and Helicopter Ben are saying is lacking in detail or simply doesn't make much sense:

Lessons from Sweden

The Swedes had a similar financial sector melt down in the early '90's. Their solution was for the government to take equity positions in the banks, meaning that when the banks recovered, tax payers got some of the up-side.

Sweden did not just bail out its financial institutions by having the government take over the bad debts. It extracted pounds of flesh from bank shareholders before writing checks. Banks had to write down losses and issue warrants to the government.

That strategy held banks responsible and turned the government into an owner. When distressed assets were sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies as well.

Random Quote of the Day

♫ It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. - Muhammad Ali

5 C's of success

I usually try to get to the source material, but here's a blog entry talking about Indra Nooyi's five C's of success. Seeing that she's CEO of Pepsi, I thought they'd be worth checking out.

1. Competence
2. Courage
3. Communication
4. Compass (as in moral compass)
5. Coaching

I'm so delighted to see Compass in there. In my experience it's generally lacking, which always disturbs me.

Leaving time for other things before you die....

Because things are a bit heavy and hectic in my personal life these days, seems I've been avoiding any comment on recent economic meltdowns, tiresome political shenanigans, etc. In keeping with that, here's a great list from The Times on 10 books not to read before you die. After all....

Most people embarking on a journey into a new book will feel they have to hack through a hundred pages of dense undergrowth before their conscience will allow them to give it up as a lost cause. But how many people feel secure enough in their own judgment even to do that? How many times have we all ploughed on to the end to find there's actually no treasure after all? A book, even a useless one, can take several days out of your life so it's a big investment.

The best way to fight the massed ranks of recommended books is with an offensively glib and, if possible, ill-informed reason for not bothering with them.

I have not been able to avoid Hemingway, Austin and Homer, but the rest I'm doing a good job at!

20 questions for any of us

Foreign Policy magazine has published 20 questions it would like to ask Sarah Palin, assuming, I'm sure, that she will not have answers to many of them. While I don't assume that any of my many illustrious readers are vying to be back-up Leader of the Free World (correct me if I'm wrong), I'm wondering how many the rest of us could answer. I like to think I'm up to speed, but here are a few good ones:

1. Is Iraq a democracy?
2. What is your preferred plan for peace between Israel and Palestine? A two state solution? What about Jerusalem?
3. Do you support the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, which would lift restrictions on sales of nuclear technology and fuel to India, a country which hasn't signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty?
4. Other than more drilling, what steps do you suggest the U.S. take in order to move toward energy independence? Do you believe more investment is needed in alternative energy research? If so, how would you recommend this funding be allocated?
5. How would you balance concerns over human rights and freedom in China with the United States' growing economic interdependence with that country?
6. What's more important: securing Russia's cooperation on nuclear proliferation and Iran, or supporting Georgia's NATO bid? If Vladimir Putin called you on the phone and said, "It's one or the other," what would you tell him?

Here are my quick thoughts:
1. No
2. Tough one: would a one-state solution get everyone focused on mutual well-being?
3. India needs power, there's no question of that, and nuclear power might be a good option. Yet, we know they have the bomb and might not mind using it in Kashmir. We need to press them to sign the NPT.
4. Ah, I have so many thoughts - yes, pour lots and lots of money into alternative energy research and even more into energy efficiency/conservation research.
5. Continue with diplomatic pressure. Countries that open up to trade open themselves up to communication and culture. The Chinese people will begin to demand more transparency and a greater political voice as their prosperity increases.
6. Russia would never support Georgia's NATO bid, so get their cooperation on proliferation and Iran.

What are your answers?

Open Secret.org

This site is fascinating. I found it today when looking up a company we just lost a project bid to. 

I also looked up who in my company gave what to all the presidential candidates. Fun.

Cool, big, expensive science

They turned on the Large Hadron Collider today! I love it that pure science still finds a place and funding in this world.

"We will be able to see deeper into matter than ever before," said Dr Tara Shears, a particle physicist at the University of Liverpool.

"We will be looking at what the Universe was made of billionths of a second after the Big Bang. That is amazing, that really is fantastic."

The LHC should answer one very simple question: What is mass?

Palin & McCain

While I'm a huge Obama fan, I thought that I would have been ok with a McCain presidency. His choice of Palin makes his ticket completely unacceptable to me for many reasons. In an op-ed by Frank Rich today, he points out how the choice of Palin brings to light things about McCain which maybe should have made me pause before as well. For example, do we really need another 4 years of running the world's most powerful country by gut-feel rather than analysis? 

Even more fraudulent, if that's possible, is the contrast between McCain's platonic presentation of his personal code of honor and the man he has become. He always puts his country first, he told us: "I've been called a maverick." If there was any doubt that that McCain has fled, confirmation arrived with his last-minute embrace of Sarah Palin.

We all think Green is the province of the young, but...

Here's consumption data showing that those over 55 are twice as likely to buy Green as the average consumer. 

Climate risk in business terms

At the end of the day, engaging business on the level of risk and risk mitigation is the way that change will come. Here's an article on the UN IPCC's next phase. Too bad they're going to take 6 years to come out with their next conclusions.

The United Nations climate panel, which won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said on Thursday it plans to work with corporate leaders and investors to flesh out the business risks linked to global warming.

With its next major "synthesis" report not due until 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will focus now on renewable energies and also engage with companies about the dangers of a warming planet and ways to confront it.

Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chairman of a IPCC working group, said pension funds were keen to hear which sectors and countries are most threatened by climate change, a phenomenon the panel's scientists have linked to the burning of fossil fuels like oil.

"Their investment decisions depend heavily on that," he said, referring to pension fund managers. "The business community, the investors' community, is really interested."

An IPCC report on the risks and potential of renewable energy technologies is in the works for 2010, Edenhofer added.

IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri dismissed worries a slowing world economy would eclipse concerns about global warming, which the U.N. panel has said will cause more extreme storms, floods, drought, and rising sea levels, among other disasters.

"There is a perception of the public, every time there is an extreme event, to link it to human-induced climate change," he told journalists in Geneva, where the IPCC met this week.

"I don't think there is any danger of this being driven off the radar screen of decision makers and the public at large," Pachauri said.

Border regions and the Taliban

Foreign Policy magazine calls this a "must-read" article, exploring the tribal regions on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Admittedly, I haven't read it yet.

Palin: Pro-entrepreneur?

And for an angle on Palin I hadn't thought of before. Making life easy for small business is a very good thing for everyone:

"As Mayor and CEO of the booming city of Wasilla, my team invited investment and encouraged business growth by eliminating small business inventory taxes, eliminated personal property taxes, reduced real property tax mill levies every year I was in office, reduced fees, and built the infrastructure our businesses needed to grow and prosper."

Sexism, sexism, sexism

I'm not convinced that Sarah Palin is a great pick as VP, but that aside, I think that the blatant double standard that is being applied to her is appalling.

Can she be VP and mother to five children?
Can McCain be president and father to seven children?

Hmmm, I've heard the first question about 100 times by now and I've never heard the second one.

Economic policy by the Candidates

Here's an interesting summary of McCain and Obama's proposed economic policies from the Council on Foreign Relations. It says Obama proposes big govenment spending programs to increase employment and stimulate the economy, and that very differently, McCain proposes a decrease in corporate taxes, so that they can afford to hire more people.

Interestingly, it says that either one of the them might well be thwarted, either by Congress or by the fact that the economy is in such dire straights that even a lot of government spending might not help dig us out. Also, they think that Obama will adopt a more centrist position once elected.

Thoughts?

Oil, Lobster, Insecurity

It's sad that fuel prices and economic insecurity lead to this, but lobster demand and prices are down, according to the NY Times. One interesting thing noted here is that the fishermen are leaving traps for, say, two days instead of one to save on fuel. I wonder if that's a fuel efficient practice they'll keep for the long term.

So, if you are looking for a treat, why not go for lobster instead of beef or some other food that's also rising in price. Beef, in fact, gets the price bump from both transport costs and the huge rise in grain and feed stock prices.

McCain rolling the dice

There's a good blog entry in the FT today talking about how McCain might be a very scary choice as Commander in Chief:

Opinion polls consistently show that the American public has more faith in Mr McCain as commander-in-chief. He looks like the safe choice for dangerous times.

But this is wrong. Mr McCain will not run a "safe" foreign policy. He adores rolling the dice. His decision to select Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate typifies the man. It is a big risk. It could turn out to be inspired. Or it might turn out to be a disaster. But it is not "safe".

Mr McCain approaches international affairs in the same spirit. His instinct is always to take the radical option and to march towards the sound of gunfire.