--- Michael Giesbrecht <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Can economics provide any answers the the question, "what should be done > about the problem of deadly bacteria developing resistence to > antibiotics?"
Yes. There is a saying, "the dosage makes the poison." According to biologists, per my understanding, the main problem is the overuse of antibiotics where they are not really needed. Economic cost-benefit analysis suggests raising the cost of bad behavior, hence there could be a stiff tax on the purchase antibiotics. This tax would be rebated if the user provides evidence for necessary use. There would also have to be a large penalty for fraud. There would be a cost in implementing this, but probably not as large as the social cost of resistant bacteria. > The reason I ask is it seems to be a prisoner's delimma. If > everybody would forego the use of antibiotics, except in extreme > circumstances, bacteria would not be able to evolve so quickly into > antibiotic resistant strains. But I'm not everybody, I'm only me. The dilemma goes away if there is a third party making the users pay the social cost. Fred Foldvary ===== [EMAIL PROTECTED]
