SUBSIDIZING BEDNETS: THE CLASSIC ECONOMIC ARGUMENT/POVERTY

This lecture has by far been my favorite. We discussed bed nets and vacations for malaria, poverty on a global scale, and reasons why conditions are not improving. The question explored was, are those in poverty willing to aid themselves? or are they only depending on the help of others? Through research done by MIT it shows that when families are provided an incentive such as a small portion of rice, they are willing to come and get their children vaccinated. As for bed nets, when one family is given a bed net and they discover the benefits of having one, they are more than willing to purchase one or several in the future. Their neighbors or close friends are also most likely to purchase one which continues the contagious effect.The professor made a quote that I thought was really interesting. She said,

 "If we are willing to impose taxes on cigarette smokers to discourage them from smoking then why can't we subsided bed nets to encourage the uses and purchases of them?
So by using prices and taxes this way, you can try and align the private incentive to the social benefit."

I more than agree with what she is saying.

Another topic we talked about is, "What encourages or discourages people from helping aid those in poverty?" There is not just one correct answer but one of the possible reason is that when people are faced with a large or general problem they are less likely to help because they believe they cannot solve the issue but when the issue is broken down into smaller units and addressed one at a time, the issue is no longer impossible and the mission becomes very specific. People like being given very few specific problems to deal with rather than one major problem. There was a specific research that was done on this topic. I will research and try to provide the results.