More swine flu economics

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Hamilton health authority's proposal of how to figure out who gets scare flu vaccines in the event of a pandemic. Now, the Canadian Olympic Committee's chief medical officer is suggesting that Olympic athletes get first dibs on flu vaccines in the event of a pandemic (hat tip to ECalgary). He notes athletes are a high-risk group and that Canadians would be sad if their Olympic hockey team caught swine flu.

Personally, I'm not convinced his argument that the positive externalities for Olympians getting vaccinated is that strong. I tend to agree with the Hamilton health authority that emergency workers should get dibs over athletes. But I'm not convinced the health authority's solution is the right one.

Why not hold a lottery for flu vaccines, and then allow people to trade or sell their vaccines as they wish? It ensures the rules are equal for everyone, and trading will allow for people who don't put a high value on the vaccine to transfer it to someone who does.

Economics at Dundurn Castle

I visited Dundurn Castle on Friday with my parents, who were visiting from Vancouver. The castle, built in 1835, is a National Historic Site in Hamilton that was a former home of Sir Allan MacNab. He was a prime minister of Canada, before Confederation in 1867.

On our hour-long guided tour, I was surprised at the economic references that crept into our tour. Our guide tried to justify the MacNab family's use of child labour. She mentioned that the servant who did the dishwashing for the MacNab family was likely eight or ten years old and worked ten-hour days. But she qualified this by mentioning that her working conditions were far better than many other jobs at the time, given that it she had a brick floor, a window and running water to work with.

Our guide also gave a neat example of an unintended consequence of tax policy. In those days, taxes were assessed based on how many rooms a person had in their house, with a room being defined as having a door. Therefore, closets were considered rooms. So the house had no closets, instead making liberal use of dressers, until the law was changed so that closets were no longer considered rooms.

It's a reminder that people respond to incentives, even in the 19th century.

Life or death economics

The health authority in Hamilton has come up with a formula to determine who gets a flu vaccine and who doesn't in the event of a shortage during a pandemic.

Health care workers, police and firefighters get vaccinated first. If there's enough left, people who caught the flu at work get it. If there is still some left over, people who care for children get next dibs. Then children and "young people" themselves. Finally, if there is still some left over, people who are most likely to survive their particular flu strain get vaccinated. Otherwise, you'll be out of luck.

According to the article in the Hamilton Spectator, the formula was developed by "front-line staff, doctors, ethicists, lawyers, human rights experts and the hospital's board."

Interestingly, it appears no economists were consulted.