Month: December 2020

By: Anton Kozyrev Freedom to explore drives innovation. While some may argue over the precise wording, this sentiment generally holds in a variety of circumstances. This phenomenon is seen at a variety of levels within the economy. Google, for instance, has its well-known “20% Time” policy in which it urges employees to spend 20% of their time freely working on new projects. This opportunity to explore has led to the development of numerous noteworthy products, from Gmail to AdSense. Freedom also drives innovation on a larger scale, particularly when it comes to national economic growth. Many proponents of a laissez-faire approach to business regulation will argue that overreaching government control and regulations only serve to stifle innovation and new development. Of course, mon...

By: Rohan Upadhyay America can’t catch a break with COVID-19. People stay home to avoid getting sick, so they can’t pay the bills and risk getting evicted. If people can’t stay home, then they’re more at risk of getting infected. And even protesting to change eviction policies puts people at risk of catching COVID-19 as people gather in large groups. On top of that, when people get laid off, they lose their health insurance. Just what you need in a pandemic. Healthcare is tied to Employment — Bad Idea In the US, people mainly get health insurance through their employers. If you lose your job, you lose your health insurance. If you’re in between jobs, you’re not covered. Normally, this isn’t too noticeable. But this year, we saw a recession with over a million jobless ...

By: Anton Kozyrev In 2003, the SARS epidemic hit Hong Kong – and it hit hard.  Hong Kong would go on to suffer 299 deaths related to the airborne illness – one-fifth of the global death total. This harrowing chapter served as the impetus for a major shift in Hong Kong officials and legislators’ mentality and approach to infectious diseases. The people of Hong Kong became more diligent when it came to illness, with a variety of measures ranging from habitually wearing surgical masks for a cold or flu to comprehensive education on how illnesses are transmitted. These efforts proved crucial when the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China. Hong Kong acted swiftly and decisively to implement proper social distancing measures and other precautions, never allowing the infecti...

By: Trevor Jones Heroin users at Platzspitz Park, June 1990 Drug use, especially the opioid crisis, is one of the most prominent public health issues in the United States today. According to drugabuse.gov, a government-run site detailing the data about drug abuse in the United States, over 47,000 people die every year due to opioid overdose. The same webpage also states that 1,700,000 American citizens suffer from prescription opioid-related substance abuse disorders, as well as 652,000 with a heroin use disorder. While there is potential for these latter two statistics to overlap, the magnitude of these numbers is still alarming. Not only have I seen the effects of substance abuse in my own life, but many of my new classmates that I have met over the last semester have had similar ...