Vande Mataram - To Sing or Not to Sing

BBC News is reporting that India is currently embroiled in a controversy over whether the song Vande Mataram should be sung in schools or not. For those not familiar with India this song embodied the spirit of the pre-independence nationalist movement, but lost out to the more secular Jana Gana Mana, as the post-independence national [...]

The Failure of Pharmaceutical R&D: Policy & Markets (4/4)

This is the conclusion of a 4 part series (Read part 1, part 2, part 3).
Global pharmaceutical R&D has failed, and continues to fail, the world’s poor. The reason is simple. Investments in R&D follow potential drug sales. This is the underlying logic of the 10/90 gap, explains why drug development in neglected diseases takes [...]

Bias in Middle East Media Reports

Last week Reuters admitted that one of its journalists had altered some images. Days later, Reuters pulled all images of photojournalist Adnan Hajj from its archives.
The problem first surfaced in the blog Little Green Footballs. It is one of many blogs that decry media coverage of the middle east conflict as anti-Israel, and they were [...]

Makeover of Dweep’s Weblog

As you will no doubt notice, Dweep’s Weblog has had a makeover. I had a feeling the old scheme was not exactly easy to read or navigate. In addition to the new look, however, there’s a few other changes:

I call it ‘The Discomfort Zone’. The old name was fine for authorship, but it didn’t really [...]

Development Aid: If and How?

On this blog, in class, and in arguments with friends I have often criticized the paradigm of International Development Assistance - and the belief that aid will help poor countries, especially the poorest in Africa. I believe it will not.
Yet, this past weekend I was forced to admit a weakness in my own stand. I [...]

The Israel Lobby in the US

The Israel Lobby: John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (LRB, Vol. 28 No. 6 dated 23 March 2006).
I was discussing American Jews with an American friend the other day. I suggested that if American Jews remained silent about Israel, they risked being considered willing, silent partners in its actions, and in US policy that supports such [...]

The Failure of Pharmaceutical R&D: High Drug Costs (3/4)

In previous posts (part 1-the health gap & part 2-current responses) I pointed out that the basic reason for the failure of pharmaceutical R&D was a lack of markets in the developing world. However, current responses are inadequate to address the gap. As I argue here, there are other systemic problems that inhibit market incentives [...]

The Failure of Pharmaceutical R&D: Current Responses (2/4)

This is part 2 in a 4 part series. Read Part 1.
Since the 90/10 gap was first understood, it has been a top priority of international agencies, philanthropists, and governments involved in global healthcare. As a result, several strategies have been deployed.