Investments in human capital require an upfront cost but provide long-term benefits. Human capital is much broader than just education and includes any investment that improves the quality of production. These decisions include things like moving across the country or improving one’s health. The US government uses some of its tax receipts to invest in healthcare for its citizens. This investment has resulted in increases in life expectancy, especially for those that have been treated at the National Institute of Health.
The G Word with Adam Conover – Malaria vs. the Bald Eagle
In the 1940s, the US created the Center for Disease Control and investments large sums of money to eradicate malaria. The pesticides that were used, however, were responsible for almost eradicating the bald eagle, the US’s national bird.
The G Word with Adam Conover – Investing in Public Health
Economic growth is driven by investments in both physical capital and human capital. To increase the health and wealth of a society, the US must ensure that businesses have access to resources (both physical and financial) but that everyone has access to resources that improve their human capital. Under this framework, government investment in irradicating diseases like malaria, polio, and measles allows individuals to live longer, healthier lives which increases their productivity.
The G Word with Adam Conover – Misaligned Medical Incentives
While doctors are likely to be focused only on saving lives, medical insurance companies may be focused on increasing the quantity of healthcare a person receives. In this brief scene, we consider whether it’s appropriate for insurance companies to charge without consent and whether doctors may be incentivized to do more than necessary to increase earnings.
The G Word with Adam Conover – Cost Benefit Analysis of Government Investment
The US economy has benefited tremendously from government investment in technological advancements designed to improve the US military’s firepower, but is it worth it? There are a number of equity considerations around the investments, but the efficiency gains are a bit more obvious. The research is funded by taxpayers, so it begs the question of what is the best use of funds. Adam questions how funds should be used, but essentially proposes viewers consider the tradeoffs that are present in each new advancement
The G Word with Adam Conover – Unintended Consequences of Drones
While drones provide a level of safety for US military members, they also create an incentive problem for the military. Now that it is easier (and safer) to strike foreign targets, the US uses drones to attach more targets than they would if they hadn’t been invented. This unintended consequence has resulted in thousands of civilian deaths and an increased reliance on deadly technology. This is also another example of a moral hazard in which economic agents take increasingly risky actions because they have been safeguarded against the risk.
The G Word with Adam Conover – Federal Investment in Innovation
The federal government is responsible for funding a lot of the technological innovation that we often attribute to private companies. While the purpose of some of these innovations is to be applied to the military innovation of the US armed forces, a lot of them also end up as vital components of civilian lives. Private companies may not be willing to invest in technological advancements if they may come at a cost to shareholder profit, but the government isn’t as concerned with profitability.
The G Word with Adam Conover – External Benefits of GPS
The global positioning system (GPS) was originally developed for military purposes but has been made available to private companies since 2000. Allowing private companies to build new products and services using this technology has resulted in a massive increase in technological advancement in the US that provides significantly more economic benefit than the cost of operating the GPS system. Estimates place the value of GPS at $1.4 trillion from 1980 to 2019, but the federal government spends relatively little to operate the system.
The G Word with Adam Conover – GPS as a Public Good
Public goods are defined as products that are nonrival and nonexcludable, like the global position system (GPS) operated by the US federal government. The nonrival nature means that it isn’t costly for the government to provide the service to an additional user and the nonexcludability component means that anyone can access that service even if they don’t pay taxes to support the service. While GPS was initially developed for military purposes, the government has made the technology available for anyone with a GPS received and companies have created new products and services based on that technology.
The G Word with Adam Conover – Monetary Stimulus During Covid
Whenever a country enters a recession, there are two classes of responses available: fiscal and monetary policy responses. Fiscal policy responses focus on taxation and spending while monetary policy responses refer to Central Bank activity. In the United States, fiscal policy is administered by the Federal Reserve. The Fed is responsible for influencing the quantity of money and credit in the economy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve was responsible for issuing treasury bonds to finance fiscal policy decisions.