Guiding the Invisible Hand

One of the effects of COVID, is the ubiquity of evidence-based policy. Aside from coronavirus cranks, most accept that public health directives rest on science. However, evidence can be a cudgel when used to promote a specific policy and limit discussion under the assertion that “the science is settled.” This seems to have happened with…

Continue Reading Some problems with “evidence based” policy

A week before New Year’s Eve, I started to receive promotional material from restaurants, my gym and arts groups, gushing about how 2021 will be different. Life will be good again, and 2020 will be but a dream. That was then; this is now. The vaccine rollout has gone poorly, in Manitoba and elsewhere in…

Continue Reading Vaccine plan in peril as third wave looms

Two weeks before Christmas, as a gift I needed to wrap and send a wooden kit for my nephew. Of course, the kit did not include the required glue … that was customer-supplied. No worries, I thought, I would just pick some up at the supermarket on my next grocery run; after all, it had…

Continue Reading Economic principles apply to the pandemic

Ten years ago, I purchased as SUV, with “state-of-the-art” all wheel drive, at least according to the sales person, who stated “you will not need snow tires with this baby!” And indeed, the traction was impressive. But after the first snow, I took a corner too fast and slammed into the curb bending the wheel…

Continue Reading The moral hazard of public health measures

In early April, we had about 100 active cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba, and the city was a ghost town. Today, we have more than 350 active cases and Kenaston Boulevard is a traffic jam. What gives? The push to open in the economy in Manitoba and elsewhere in spite of “upticks” in COVID-19 cases…

Continue Reading Living with COVID requires choices

The forced adoption of virtual health care caused by the pandemic has most observers extolling the value of patient-provider consultations via real-time streaming platforms. Not many seem to recognize several other trends that will disrupt Canadian health care. Combined with telehealth, wearable diagnostics, artificial intelligence-enabled decisions, cloud storage, and strategic alignments among internet giants and…

Continue Reading Virtual care will revolutionize Canadian health care

Public health experts and politicians are suggesting that we can see a point when pandemic-related restrictions could relax. But any relaxation must be careful and measured, quickly reversible if COVID-19 reappears. Everyone maintains that wide-scale testing is a key to controlling the reopening of the economy. Read the full article

Continue Reading Canada needs a pandemic DEW Line