Playing God
There are three main goals of this assignment; the first is for you to learn about various extreme circumstances arising due to wars and natural disasters that people working in the of medical care sector face. What are some of the decisions that they need to make.
The second is to teach you skills on how to analyze a news artifact using and applying economic tools and reasoning. This should help you with your own independent analysis of news clippings and independent reading.
The third, is to introduce you to RadioLab podcasts – absolutely amazing fountain of knowledge that will encourage you learn about myriad of things you might currently know nothing about and will help you to develop your critical thinking skills and a lifelong appreciation of learning.
For more information please visit: http://www.radiolab.org/ [Links to an external site.]
To access the episode that we listen to in class here: http://www.radiolab.org/story/playing-god/ [Links to an external site.]
“When people are dying and you can only save some, how do you choose? Maybe you save the youngest. Or the sickest. Maybe you even just put all the names in a hat and pick at random. Would your answer change if a sick person was standing right in front of you?
In this episode, we follow New York Times reporter Sheri Fink as she searches for the answer. In a war-zone, a hurricane, a church basement, and an earthquake, the question remains the same. What happens, what should happen, when humans are forced to play god?” – RadioLab
Briefly describe 4 main events or episodes that were discussed in this podcast.
Please define the following terms:
Scarcity
Tradeoffs
Opportunity Cost
Allocation of resources
Three fundamental questions: 1. What is produced; 2. Who produces it; 3. Who gets it
Rationing mechanisms
Fairness
What is the relationship between triage and rationing?
Pick a term that you defined above that you think most clearly applies and is most clearly related to the podcast. Why? Be as precise as possible and provide clear examples.
What was the second most important term discussed in the podcast? Be as precise as possible and provide clear examples.
Sketch a Production Possibilities Frontier in order to explain one concept discussed in the podcast.
How would a market system solve these extreme issues of scarcity?
