Tag: Economics

Posted on

Illusion by Jerome Berglund

double the wages
and then halve their value
trompe-l’œil for posing

By Jerome Berglund

Trompe-l’œil is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. Popular for taking photographs to post on Instagram and other social media, these tricks of the eye and perception are reminiscent to the cosmetic, superficial appearances of progress, change and modest victories in terms of relative earnings, in the West and everywhere.

Our recent practice of hyperinflation following suspiciously closely upon the heels of distinctly minimal incremental graduated gains on wages which have stagnated grotesquely for decades, while productivity increased exponentially, as wealth continues to consolidate into smaller and smaller numbers of hands, the trend toward worse austerity, impossible situations for housing, affordable family creation, healthcare, are only exacerbated, insulted and injured by these distortions passing themselves for supposed reforms, amounting to deceptive sleight of hand magic trickeries.

Further reading: The science behind sales, deals, discounts and promotions

Author bio:

Jerome Berglund, recently nominated for the 2022 Touchstone awards, graduated from USC’s film program, worked in the entertainment industry before returning to the midwest where he has been employed as everything from dishwasher to paralegal, night watchman to assembler of heart valves.  Jerome has exhibited many haiku, senryu and haiga online and in print, most recently in the Asahi Shimbun, Bear Creek Haiku, Bamboo Hut, Cold Moon Journal, Daily Haiga, Failed Haiku, Haiku Dialogue, Scarlet Dragonfly, Under the Basho, and the Zen Space. You can follow him on Twitter @BerglundJerome and find more of his poetry here:  https://flowersunmedia.wixsite.com/jbphotography/post/haiku-senryu-and-haiga-publications

Check out more sciku from Jerome: ‘Environmental Charlie Browns’, ‘Vested Interests‘, ‘Civil Disobedience’ and ‘Exploitation in Micro and Macro’.

Posted on

The Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian General Practice by Dr Michael J. Leach

General practice
as COVID strikes—workloads rise
as revenues fall

by Dr Michael J. Leach

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected populations and industries in multifarious ways. For more than a year now, global viral spread and associated lockdowns have driven major health and economic crises. While industries such as travel and entertainment have experienced dramatic reductions in both workload and revenue, the situation in the health care industry is more complex.

In a health services research study, Kippen et al. (2020) explored the early impacts of COVID-19 on Australian general practice through a national online survey. This survey was distributed to 4,891 Australian general practice supervisors on 14 April 2020—less than one month after the World Health Organization upgraded the COVID-19 epidemic to a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The cut-off date for survey completion was 13 May 2020. Overall, 572 of the 4,891 general practice supervisors responded, giving a relatively good physician response rate of 12%.

Of the 572 respondents, 61% reported an increased overall workload during the pandemic while 77% reported reduced practice revenue. Increased workloads related to the implementation of new hygiene practices and clinical regimens, heightened community anxiety, and higher volumes of phone calls. Reduced practice revenues, meanwhile, stemmed from additional administrative work, additional clinical work that could not be reimbursed through the government in the usual way, and the need to purchase new resources such as disinfectant and personal protective equipment. Such changes have adversely affected the viability of Australian general practice—a cornerstone of the health care sector, especially during a pandemic.

The original research article described here is available open access online:
Kippen R, O’Sullivan B, Hickson H, Leach M, Wallace G. (2020). A national survey of COVID-19 challenges, responses and effects in Australian general practice. Australian Journal of General Practice. 49(11): 745-751. https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2020/november/national-survey-of-covid-19-challenges

Michael J. Leach (@m_jleach) is an Australian epidemiologist, biostatistician, and poet based at the Monash University School of Rural Health. His debut poetry collection is Chronicity (Melbourne Poets Union, 2020).

Check out more sciku by Michael, including ‘The Core Correlate of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance‘, ‘Drug-Induced Hip Fractures‘, ‘The Psychopharmacological Revolution‘, ‘Quality of Life at Seven Years Post-Stroke‘, ‘The Burden of Bushfire Smoke‘, and ‘Australian Science Poetry‘ with science communicator Rachel Rayner. Michael also has another Covid-19-related sciku published in Pulse which is well worth checking out: ‘flu shot announcement‘.

Posted on

Carbon negative

Save planet and lives –
carbon negative power.
Economic too.

Whilst parts of the world move slowly towards carbon-neutral energy sources, others lag behind, heavily reliant on coal power stations and other power sources that release greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and have negative impacts upon air quality. Yet increasingly it seems that carbon-neutral isn’t enough: in order to limit global temperature increases carbon-negative technologies are required.

One route for carbon-negative power generation is to convert biomass into energy and then capture and store the waste carbon dioxide. By removing the carbon in the biomass from the environment this is a carbon-negative process. Yet currently this isn’t efficient and requires too much land to grow the plants, land that is then unavailable for much needed food production.

Research by Lu et al (2019) has used China as a case study to address this issue since China is heavily dependent on coal power stations. Instead of relying exclusively on biomass, the researchers propose using a combination of biomass and coal to develop a pure source of hydrogen fuel. They found that a minimum of 35% biomass could result in carbon-negative power generation. Not only that but the biomass used in the process could be plant material leftover after harvesting, plant material which is currently burnt in the fields and is a major source of air pollution. What’s more the researchers suggest that the process would be as cost effective, and thus competitive, with the current coal fired power stations.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812239116

Posted on

Consequences

Curb carbon outputs

or face the consequences:

Falling stock prices.

 

We often hear about the environmental benefits of companies reducing their carbon outputs. Generally, however, little happens in business without consideration of the subsequent monetary impacts, and many companies have been slow to change their ways for little apparent financial incentive.

New research by Fang et al (2018) explores the impacts of companies not acting within the emission-intensive sector in North America. The researchers examined the risk factors of climate change on investment portfolios, both directly (e.g. physical risk to properties) and indirectly (e.g. as a result of stricter environmental regulations). They found that companies that don’t take steps to reduce their carbon output could be affected by stock price depreciation and asset devaluation within a decade. Such findings will hopefully prompt more action on curbing carbon emissions.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2018.1522583

Posted on

Dynamic toll

Dynamic toll roads.

Prices fluctuate with load,

save time, money, health.

 

Traffic congestion damages health, the environment and the economy. Whilst more roads might seem like the answer, history shows that additional roads don’t reduce traffic jams. Now Cramton et al (2018) suggest that smart toll roads – roads that track usage and charge accordingly – could be the solution.

By increasing prices in real time on roads that are busy, the authors suggest that road users would look to alternative routes and modes of transport or choose to travel at a different time. It would also reduce the financial burden on those individuals that rarely use road travel but still pay taxes to maintain road links.

Original source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05836-0

 

Posted on

Affordable care

Affordable care:

Act for the vulnerable.

Will you endure yet?

 

New research reveals the broadly positive impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare).

McKenna et al (2018) used data from 2011 to 2016 and found that, whilst not perfect, the Affordable Care Act reduced the financial strain of healthcare and increased access and utilisation to healthcare for low- and middle-income adults. In particular, those that benefit most are those making an income of twice the poverty-line designation or below.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958018790164

Posted on

Consider the lobster

To know global trade,

consider the lobster from

trade route to market.

 

There has been a 515% increase in the trade of fisheries products for human consumption from 1976 to 2014. This international scale leaves small-scale fishers and fishing economies vulnerable despite an apparent global market.

By mapping the global trade routes of lobsters Stoll et al (2018) have revealed vulnerabilities of small-scale producers in North America to changes in a small number of end-markets. In particular the trade routes make it harder to identify and anticipate risk – should the demand change (as a result of a trade-war between the USA and China for instance) the impact on the $1.5 billion-a-year Maine lobster industry would be vast.

This sciku also includes a reference to David Foster Wallace’s collection of essays – Consider the Lobster.

Original research: http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2018.00239

Posted on

Trust me, I’m female

Crowdfund my startup,

Your money is safe with me.

Trust me, I’m female!

 

In business, women are traditionally at a disadvantage when seeking financing for business start-ups. Yet a new study by Johnson et al (2018) suggests that women have the advantage when it comes to crowd-funded start-ups. The research suggests that women are stereotypically seen as more trustworthy than men which influences the amateur investors’ willingness to invest.

Original research: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.04.003