Presentation to the 2021 Conference of Theatre Managers & Educators, Dunedin 5-7 May. A few weeks ago, the government announced the next health sector redisorganisation. So I have scrapped the presentations I promised, in favour of an account of what is happening and where we might be going. Today’s presentation is centred on a history…
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Centralising the Public Health System The proposed health redisorganisation seeks to markedly centralise the health system. Is this grab for power justified; will it work? The Cabinet paper’s justification of the proposed changes is sevenfold. The first two are about Maori issues. One is constitutional, arguing that the ‘public health system does not meet the…
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I have been gripped by the World Oddometer’s daily reports tracking the covid statistics. In a way it was a rejection of Stalin’s ‘one death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic’; I have watched with agony the paths of various countries. But this statistician knew that the data reflected reported deaths from covid,…
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I was writing almost weekly about the Covid Crisis during its peak of between March and June 2020. Not that I had any technical expertise in the area (in the following please allow for that) but its impact on economics areas where I had some expertise was great. Here is a list of the Pundit…
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This note is written in response to a request about the details of how to do a social cost study on alcohol (misuse). It is written by an economist who has long been involved in the area both theoretically and practically. [1] The point of this note is that it is important to understand that…
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The following are various columns on my Pundit website which involve health economics. What is the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder? (7 November 2014) The Cost of Demanding More Health Care (10 November, 2014) Prolongation of Life and the Quality of Life (28 November, 2014) Thrive: The Power of Psychological Therapy (November 2, 2015) Are we spending enough…
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Wellington School of Medicine Summer School 22 February, 2019. But, first, you may well ask, why should anyone – especially a health practitioner – care about health economics? When I was teaching health economics to sixth-year medical students, I wrote on the board so that it was there during the entire session: EITHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS…
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What can we learn about health care systems and the US from the muddle that America is getting into over Obamacare? Donald Trump is not particularly interested in policy. When he promised to replace Obamacare – the current US health system – with something which would be better, he was responding to the conflicting demands…
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A novel about an historical event reminds us of the health redisorganisation of the 1990s, raising issues remaining relevant to today. I puzzle at how politicians and advisers can make giant mistakes but are never held accountable. The notion of accountability became fashionable in the neoliberal changes of the 1980s and many people further down…
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FASD Policy and Research Forum, 9 September, 2016, as a part of the observance of International FASD Awareness Day.
N Z Med J . 2016 Aug 19;129(1440):72-83. A detailed version of paper. With, Larry Burd, Jürgen Rehm, Svetlana Popova Abstract Aim: To estimate the productivity losses due to morbidity and premature mortality of individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in New Zealand (NZ). Methods: A demographic approach with a counterfactual scenario in which nobody in NZ…
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Brian Easton, Larry Burd, Jürgen Rehm, and Svetlana Popova Abstract Aim To estimate the productivity losses due to morbidity and premature mortality of individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in New Zealand (NZ). Methods A demographic approach with a counterfactual scenario in which nobody in NZ is born with FASD was used. Estimates were…
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In too many areas the government is avoiding taking policy decisions. When it has to its panic measures are knee-jerk and quick-fix. Just nine years ago, John Key, then leader of the opposition, spoke to the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Contractors Federation about housing affordability which he described then as a ‘crisis reached…
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The government is restraining its spending on healthcare – perhaps by over $2 billion a year. Is that what we really want? A common assumption is that public spending on healthcare rises faster than GDP. There are three reasons behind this assumption. First, an aging population requires more healthcare. The over-65s consume more healthcare resources…
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The book’s ‘message is as compelling as it is important: the social costs of mental illness are terribly high and the costs of effective treatments are surprisingly low’. Daniel Kahneman (psychologist and Nobel economics laureate). In due course this Penguin is likely to become fashionable – like The Sprit Level and Capital in the Twenty First Century – because it…
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How economists think about valuing life when allocating resources for healthcare purposes. Pundit: 28 November, 2014 Keywords: Health; A couple of comments to an earlier column asked questions about the quality of life versus the prolongation of life. It might be useful to set out an economic perspective on the broad issue, while acknowledging the…
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As times goes on the government will spend more on healthcare. That means higher taxes. Is there an alternative? Pundit: 10 November, 2014. Keywords: Health; I was on the Treasury external panel which advised on its last Long Term Fiscal Projections. The great challenges arise from rising demand for government funded services and the aging…
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Every year around 600 New Zealanders are born with a horrible condition because their mothers drank while they were pregnant. Pundit: 10 November, 2014 Keywords: Health; The terms Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and its more extreme form Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) have appeared recently in two news items. In a hearing…
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Health Promotion Hui: Cancer Society of New Zealand, 23 October, 2014 Keywords: Health; I have been asked to talk about how economic evaluation is used to determine the social costs of diseases and other health conditions. I could give a learned and technical lecture on the topic, but it strikes me that even…
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Miriam J Laugesen and Robin Gauld; Otago University Press, $40.00. ISBN 978 1 877578 27 4. (Review) New Zealand Books: 5 December, 2013. Keywords: Health; I have long puzzled over the point of local democracy in the highly centralised state of New Zealand. If you dont like what your local representatives decide…
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