Is Walgreens Going Too Far?

Walgreens will begin selling genetic testing kits throughout their 7,500 nationwide locations (albeit, not in New York due to state laws) in mid-May. The kits, which cost between $20 and $30, will include saliva collection tools and a pre-paid envelope. Pathway Genomics, the maker of the kits will test for genetic predisposition to diseases like Alzheimer’s, Tay-Sachs, and cystic fibrosis.

Pathway also sells testing kits for allergies to common pharmaceutical drugs, pregnancy planning, and miscellaneous other health conditions, but those tests will not be available at Walgreens and cost upwards of $79 (to as much as $249). In a statement from Pathway Genomics, Jim Plante, the company’s CEO said, “We’re revolutionizing the way people access information about their genetics,” said Plante. “The value of knowing how genes play a role in our personal lives, and potentially the lives of our children, is critical for making well-informed health and wellness decisions.”

While there are health benefits to early detection of life threatening illnesses, such as breast cancer, or finding out about a potentially deadly drug reaction before its administration, not every genetic test is as valuable as Plante indicates. I understand that there is health value to availing people to the ability to learn of impending genetic disorders, but that does not mean that people should test for everything. I personally do not want to live in fear of developing symptoms of a disease that I have a genetic proclivity to developing in the future. More time, money, and effort should be placed into researching cures for diseases to help the future generations, not more ways to detect potential for growing into a disease. If there are no (or very limited) benefits to treating diseases early, then the money could be better appropriated elsewhere.

Science technology is increasing, which is a good thing, but not every technology should be economically exploited.

Adam Smith and The Tea Party

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With the recent rise of the “Tea Parties,” I sometimes question whether of not their founders truly understand the mantra, “no taxation without representation” in which they so fervently refer. I clearly remember learning about this historic event in American history – the point was that the British government was heavily taxing “Americans,” yet only appointed British officials “represented” the “American” people. Just to clear things up – the American people DID collectively elect the current president, senators, and representatives, regardless if each individual actual cast their vote for that particular person.

Though Adam Smith lived during the time of the Boston Tea Party, as a Brit, it was not a primary concern for him. As the preeminent economist in history, his views are often intertwined with this past event as well as referenced by current members of the political Tea Party.

To quote from The Wealth of Nations, Smith writes:

1. The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible … in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.

2. The tax which each individual is bound to pay ought to be certain, and not arbitrary. The time of payment, the manner of payment, the quantity to be paid, ought all to be clear and plain to the contributor, and to every other person. Where it is otherwise, every person subject to the tax is put more or less in the power of the tax-gatherer, who can either aggravate the tax upon any obnoxious contributor, or extort, by the terror of such aggravation, some present or perquisite to himself.

3. Every tax ought to be levied at the time, or in the manner, in which it is most likely to be convenient for the contributor to pay it.

4. Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and keep out of the pockets of the people as little as possible, over and above what it brings into the public treasury of the state.

The main takeaway from this book is a belief in separation, exchange, and division of labor (as exemplified by his famous pin factory example). Smith also advocates the pursuit of self-interest and believes that free market society will produce the most efficient outcome. To cite Adam Smith’s views on individual freedom and self-interest, as the source of discontent to lambaste the stimulus plan, pundits are quoting Smith out of context.

The 1759 book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, though not as famous as The Wealth of Nations, is Smith’s first work and what he believes to be his best work. Early scholars found the two works to be contradictory, but upon close examination, Smith’s true economic sentiment is clear. The Theory of Moral Sentiments first introduces the “invisible hand,” which guides humans as they act in their own self-interest. Though hard work and selfish behavior is ultimately necessary in an efficient society to create competition, morals concurrently arise through social relationships.

Human beings constantly seek the approval of others, and it is that same desire to impress that fosters the drive toward self-interest. Though people do focus on their own needs, they are not completely immune to others and sympathize with their peers. By realizing their morality, people are willing to share and help out others when they are in need despite the internal desire to help only themselves.

Pablo Picasso and the Value of Art

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“Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” by Pablo Picasso sold for $106.5 million at a Christie’s auction on Tuesday, signifying the highest bid ever for a piece of artwork at an auction house. Demonstrating artistic ability from a young age, Pablo … Continue reading →

Can GDP Really Measure Well-Being?

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This morning, I received an update from The Economist Debate series, which posed the question: “What’s the best way to measure living standards?” With Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick on the pro side, asserting that “GDP growth is a poor measure of improving living standards,” and Steve Landefeld, Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, defending the metric, this has been a thought-provoking debate. Though the voting on the proposal is still open to the public, 72% of respondents currently agree with the house, and I concur.

For years, GDP has been the main indicator of economic health, but is it really sufficient to encapsulate the overall well-being of a nation? In order to answer this question, a more fundamental issue needs to be addressed. Does the wealth of a country have a direct correlation to its well-being? The Easterlin Paradox contends that the answer is no since it alleges that the happiness of a country does not improve as its wealth increases.

I believe that measures of wealth, happiness, and well-being are all relative from an economic standpoint. After all, humans determine their own happiness based on their perception of others.

For example, a country could experience triple-digit growth in GDP, but still be considered an impoverished nation in comparison to the rest of the world. Conversely, highly developed countries, like the United States, can experience negative GDP growth, but still be tremendously “better off” than most other countries.

Latin American countries are notorious for their huge wealth disparities. In many instances, a country experiences GDP growth, but only a handful of wealthy people are benefiting, and the rest of the country is impoverished. Though based on GDP growth, the country is economically strong, the overall well-being of the masses is low.

In a sense, “ignorance is bliss.” When we are aware of what other people have, we become more aware of what we don’t have and take many things for granted. Most people in the U.S. don’t think of something like clean water as being a luxury, but it is. Millions of people are living without access to potable water. For a poor villager living in a developing nation, gaining access to a new water source could be life-changing and infinitely increase that person’s happiness, but if their country’s GDP growth remains low, that level of economic “well-being” would not be reflected by the GDP.

Adages say that money does not buy happiness, and that is true to an extent. Money does make someone’s life more comfortable, but comfort does not guarantee well-being.  Drive for materialism promotes a need for more materialism, and some people are never satisfied with what they have, even if they are much better off than many other people.

Goldman Sachs: Evil Instigator or Political Scapegoat?

Image via Wikipedia From the onset of the 1930s, Goldman Sachs has been synonymous with investment banking. Through shrewd business deals and savvy management, they vaulted themselves into the limelight, and now they are paying the price. The Security and … Continue reading →

Is Apple Destroying the Art of the Album?

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iTunes is synonymous with digital music downloads. The success of Apple iPods has propelled the iTunes brand, and they currently hold at least 25% of the music market (digital as well as CD versions) as of a 2009 NPD Group report. Digital music downloads currently account for 35% of the market, and that number has only been climbing. If this trend of mp3s over CDs (or other physical devices) continues to decline, it begs the question: what will happen to the art of the CD?

CDs are not just haphazardly thrown together with tracks being slotted according to when their recording is completed. Tremendous care is put into determining the perfect flow of a CD with the most aesthetically pleasing arrangement. Transitions all one song to flow seamlessly into the next so that there is that the listener’s attention is held until the final chord is struck.

And what will become of concept albums? Musical opuses such as Pink Floyd’s The Wall and The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are more than just a collection of the band’s newest songs, but weave in a musical story, each song adding another layer of depth and building upon the previous track’s installment.

If listeners pick and choose the “best,” poppiest, most attention-grabbing songs and give little stock to the other tracks in an album, more emphasis will be placed on the hits than producing a well-rounded album. There will be no need for a cohesive account of emotion or a music story – the only objective will be to produce marketable stand-alone hits. An artist would be not even have to waste time crafted a masterpiece, but devote all attention to churning out hits.

One of my favorite bands, Cursive, known for their artful concept albums, begins their CD, The Ugly Organ, with the song, “Art is Hard,” which epitomizes the threat of an impending artistic demise with the belted words, “Keep churning out those hits/’til it’s all the same old shit.”

What I value most in music is the ability of musicians to convey a story – a vignette in their life – that expresses a mood, whether blissful or angry or completely melancholy. Context can be everything, and it is the overall feeling of an album that really stays with me, long after the lyrics of simply one hit song fades into silence.

Heaven is a Library

I am a bibliophile. I love to look at books, I love to read books, and I even feel a sense of comfort by being surrounded by books. Everywhere I have lived, I always have a bookshelf teeming with books. It is typical to find stacks of library books scattered throughout my already crammed bedroom. I have fond memories of reading books as a child, and I even find myself picking up my favorites, when I see them at a library or a bookstore, just to refresh that feeling of youth.

Even though I am by no means opposed to modern technology, (I love new electronic gadgets as much as the next girl) there is something unsettling about picturing a future without paper-bound books. I understand that devices like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad allow you to access many books at a time without having to lug around an entire library, but that doesn’t mean that books serve no purpose. You can’t really cuddle up with an iPad like you can a book. Have you ever fallen asleep while reading a book late at night? I know that the generations behind me have literally grown up with technology, but that does not mean that they prefer a computer screen to a vibrant picture book. I enjoy flipping through pages, not just hitting the “back” button.

For educational purposes, electronic books could be utilized to provide further information, videos, and examples for complex topics, but when I read a book, that is all that I want to do, just simply read the book. Yes, I do occasionally look at footnotes for clarification when reading older works, but what I enjoy so much about reading is how it evokes so much creative thought. I love imagining the characters as they act out each scene. I have vivid images in my head of colors and scenes and the way that a character looks and how their voice sounds speaking the dialogue. If too much information is simply given to me, then I can no longer imagine that image in my head.

One of my favorite spanish-language authors, Jorge Luis Borges, if often quoted for the phrase, “yo, que me figuraba el Paraíso bajo la especie de una biblioteca” (“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”) from his poem, “Poema de los Dones.” As a librarian later in life, Borges had a profound appreciation for the written word and though there could be futuristic libraries composed of digitalized book files, to me, it would simply not me the same.

From bromances to cry fests

This morning, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Friendship for Guys (No Tears!),” by Jeffrey Zaslow. The article begins by explaining the way in which women and men each behave in their friendships. Women’s friendships have a highly emotional component, which is exhibited by a constant need to share feelings and inquire about what is happening in a friend’s life. Men, on the other hand, do not share the same apparent intimacy as their female counterparts. Their interactions consist less of sharing tears and more cheering for their favorite sports team or partaking in a competitive game of golf. A quote from this article that really encapsulated this discrepancy was from the wife of one of the men featured in the article: “Two female strangers in a public restroom would share more personal information in five minutes than you guys talked about in a week!” I laughed when I read this quote – that is definitely true.

 

Though both types of relationship are manifested in very different ways; essentially they are the same and share a very emotional element. All humans have a need for intimacy, in the broadest sense of the word. We crave human interaction and emotional support. For women, emotional support comes in the form of empathy, whether that includes a serious discussion of a situation or a cry fest. Men may not readily admit this, but when they are amidst crisis, they desire emotional support as well. However, you would be hard pressed to find a group of guys that dealt with their anxieties by crying in a group and watching sappy romantic movies, but their want for emotional support is no less sincere. At emotionally stressful times, people need comfort from others and for men, just knowing that they have friends that they can count on is often sufficient. By drinking beer at a friends’ house or attending a sports event, the sense of unity created by sharing of embarrassing past stories and forming new memories can emulate the same emotional support that girls receive from describing intimate details of their lives with a friend.

 

Of course, the differences in the way that men and women relay their emotions is not only learned by behavioral influences, but rooted biologically as well. Studies have proven that women are better able to read facial expressions and body language than men, and the reason? Women have more highly developed corpus callosum fibers, which connect the brain’s left and right hemispheres, resulting in a more thorough ability to simultaneously analyze contextual and intuitive messages. While this conclusion is good news to marketers, since this ability gives women a keener awareness to brand messages, the acute female awareness to the emotions of others can be a pitfall in the workplace.

 

Since men do not thrive on sharing emotions or a need to develop friendships in the workplace, they can easily distance themselves from coworkers when carrying out their managerial duties. Men emphasize a pecking order in the workplace, more aptly than women, and are able to reprimand, if necessary, a subordinate coworker, regardless if there is a friendship between the two men. Women, on the other hand, are more uncomfortable in this situation and can be influenced by emotional ties to their co-workers. The issue of respect comes into play when a male has a female boss. If women are too tied to emotions, the employees will take advantage of their emotional bond; however, if women are assertive, male coworkers consider them to be a bitch, even though a male boss would act in the same manner.

 

Finding the right balance in leadership styles for women can be tricky, but it should not be viewed as a weakness. Women and men are different, and expectations for their behavior should be not be the same – not higher or lower – but different. Not to say that I do not support equality for women because I definitely do, but I think it should be acknowledged that the individual approaches that men and women have toward friendships and emotions relay to the way in which they exert control and carry out supervisory roles in the workforce. Women may be seemingly more lenient when dealing with their subordinates in the workforce, but that “lenience” should not be abused. After all, there is truth in the saying, “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

How Does Matching Measure Up?

A fair contract is an agreement between two parties in which they are each satisfied with what they will receive as a result of the transaction. However, as in all two-party agreements, there is always an instance of some asymmetric information.

When one party knows something that the other party does not, asymmetry results. Regardless of how well-thought out a decision, there is always at least a shred of ambiguity within the negotiation process. While some transactions are relatively minor, there are major life-altering matches that occur, resulting in potentially disastrous repercussions. For example, a consumer will be annoyed if the $2 loaf of bread that they purchase is slightly stale (despite a future expiration date), but in the grand scheme, it is meaningless and would unlikely sway the customer to make a special trip to purchase bread elsewhere. Monetary transactions are the most clear cut types of contracts. One party places a value on a good or service and receives that good or service in exchange for that specific amount as long as the seller values their product to be equal to or less than the amount being offered.

The main issue with transactions arises in the form of intangible trades. In forming a contract, it becomes very difficult to reach an agreement if something cannot be assigned a price tag. Matching medical students to residency programs is one such example. The National Resident Match Program (NRMP), established in 1952, attempts to remedy any preferential treatment and nepotism by utilizing a computer to match students with programs based on their preferences. The resulting salaries and work periods are virtually identical across the board. Of course, no system is perfect, and each hospital’s ranking of a particular candidate is highly subjective, but the biggest problem with the NRMP is not the rankings, but the actual mechanism.

Residency salaries are capped at around $46,000, regardless of the area’s cost of living and the quality of the program, and doctors all work approximately 80 hours per week. Considering the sizeable debt that virtually all students carry when entering a program, there is no monetary advantage of one program over the other, aside from opting for a non-urban, low cost location. While this may appear to be a democratizing result, the residents suffer the most from the arrangement. If medical schools were allowed to set their own hours and salaries, they would have better bargaining tools to attract students. Instead of relying on the name of a hospital to garner future high incomes, a doc could start paying back their loans immediately by earning a higher salary at a better-ranked school. Schools outside the top tier hospitals could also benefit by competition. Since students aspire to enter the best hospital possible, the best students end up at the best hospitals. However, if the less prestigious hospitals could offer enticing benefits, i.e. more vacation, fewer work hours, or higher salaries, they could siphon away some of the top students and enhance their programs in the process.

Over-reliance of one system is never beneficial from an economic standpoint, which is why competition is encouraged in virtually every other sector. It hardly seems fair that students are forced to compete against their peers for coveted placement, while hospitals just sit back and reap the benefits of their name.

Car Bombs for All

Image by Benny BNut via Flickr Like Valentine’s Day (as well as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day), I think of St. Patrick’s Day as a “Hallmark holiday;” though more likely created by the beer distributors than the card industry. Both … Continue reading →