Premise: The age from about 1910 (Henry Ford) to 1969 (moon landing) contained astonishing advances in transportation. The age from about 1969 (ARPAnet) through 1980 (Apple II), 1998 (Google) and 2004 (Facebook) contained astonishing advances in information technology. The age beginning in the late 20th century with DNA mapping and the decoding of the human genome offers a third, likely just beginning, age of astonishing technological advance. All have been American-led; all have exhibited extensive cooperation between the private and public sectors.
Let's look at a few of today's biological technology headlines in that light.
1. One of the downsides of the hyperpartisan debates over Obamacare - beyond the increased costs and the intrusion of the federal government into personal health decisions - is the unknown consequence of overturning one sixth of our economy. Some elements, such as the medical device excise tax, have a direct effect of inhibiting investment and invention; others, such as arbitrary service and funding mandates for hospitals, will have a negative impact on research; but, the biggest risk is that cooperation between the private health care sector and government is being traumatized.
2. On October 9, Gilead Sciences announced FDA approval to sell a once-a-day pill that can cure Hepatitis C in 8 to 12 weeks. With 150 to 200 million sufferers globally, a great humanitarian breakthrough - right? Well, not so much. Gilead will charge $1000 per pill in the US, while contracting with generic manufactuers for the undeveloped world to make the wonder drug available at about $10 per pill. Sometime in the next year or two there will be a debate about how much Medicare and Obamacare insurance policies are required to cover, how research costs are compensated, and who decides who lives and dies when pharmaceutical companies charge more than society can afford to pay.
3. The early stages of the Ebola epidemic demonstrate that, despite billions spent on the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control, neither the world, nor the United States is prepared. There is a tendency to put the tragedy in political terms - Democrats running graphic ads blaming Republican budget cuts (although the current Republican budget contained greater funding for the CDC than Obama requested); the politically-correct World Health Organization blaming the spread of disease on global warming. The reality is that the CDC was unprepared - no clear designation of primary care facilities; no protocol for travel by attending health care professionals; no clear plan for curtailing air travel or increasing inspection at designated airports. Most disappointing is the absence of a credible senior leader to prominantly explain the nature of the problem, what is being done, and what the individual should do.
4. On the positive side, the application of biological science to yield improvement in agriculture - highlighted by Monsanto and DuPont - has allowed the world population to grow from 5 billion in 1987 to over 7 billion today, accompanied with rising standards of nutrition, while providing some moderation on pressures to convert forests to farmland. Fortunately, the majority of the world is more interested in feeding itself than are the ideological "parties of science" in the United States and Europe who rail against genetically-modified foods as science is applied to reduce the need for water, pesticides, and fertilizer.
For those bemoaning the decline of America in diplomatic, military, or economic terms, there is hope for continuing technical ascendency based on our primacy in research universities, the attractiveness of America to global talent, and the generally cooperative relation between government and private enterprise. Hopefully Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and John Kerry will keep out of the way.
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This week's video is the President's totally uninspiring public statement on the Ebola crisis.
bill bowen - 10/17/14
I woke up this morning to find that the President says he has dropped everything to be available to handle Ebola issues. But, then on the way to work I heard he made two campaign speeches. Not to worry--all is well on the Ebola front. The care givers have been declared safe, the plane passengers have been declared safe and the Spanish worker is cleared.. The Defense department has now called up the reserves to handle local Ebola case security and containment issues with their lightening quick response team. The media over hyped the problem I learned. Meanwhile as we close on the elections the media seems to have forgotten about ISIS. Putin and Ukraine held a photo op on natural gas. Merkel is softening on her attitude toward quantitative easing. The Saudi's are actually punishing their OPEC partners and not Texas. I feel good again--don't you?
Posted by: Bill McCormick | October 20, 2014 at 12:29 PM
LEADERSHIP LACKING is so evident at this time that it is actually appalling and frightening. This President is an 8 year example of why the American people must stop looking for someone who sounds smart and speaks well and look for experienced problem solvers and managers to elect. We will look back and see that in 2012 we opted out of an opportunity to elect perhaps the best credentialed candidate for President of our lifetime: Romney. Leadership has two fundamental components: the ability to motivate and inspire confidence in the future and the ability to organize people into teams to solve problems to make the future better than the past. In short inspiration and management ability.
At this point 6 years into the term the President should be looking better. He should have made his mistakes and have assembled a team of competent managers diligently working on the nation's biggest problems. We knew he had no experience but we hoped he was smart and would learn on the job. But, his inexperience created resulted in him appointing a team of political operatives rewarded for their work in getting him elected. The result was a never ending set of mistakes that, out of political fear of consequences, were defended through stonewalling and cover ups. The proper way to handle the mistakes made in the learning process is to admit them and make the necessary changes to rectify them. Most of the time brilliant minds make poor managers. They simply believe they can do everything better than anyone else and so they hire people who do not challenge them and who are easy to manipulate so that they can always look smarter than their team. Great managers surround themselves with experienced people who are better at what they do than themselves and let them handle the future. Ebola and his reluctance to hire a Czar is a great example. The last two days he has cancelled fund raisers to go on TV and try to discuss a healthcare issue he simply is not qualified to discuss. The result is that he misspeaks and destroys American confidence. I cannot even imagine what the world leaders think of his speeches at the UN and his phone calls. When he discusses strategy against ISIS he never has the Generals talk. Remember how General Schwarzkopf took us through the first Gulf war? Confidence in our military soared. As the years have gone by the President has taken all the Generals out of the public view to make sure he looks like the Commander.
Now we have to hope we survive the next two years and that a candidate who can and will lead emerges. Hillary will likely run. She has no management experience either. Her ability to inspire will forever be questioned from White Water, the Monica event, Benghazi and her willingness to be put to the sidelines as Secretary of State in favor of special appointees to handle Pakistan and Israel. If Bill lives at least she will offer the opportunity to be a proxy for 4 more years of Bill. But, can we actually operate with a proxy President? On the Republican side we look for candidates in the Governors because they have the management experience needed to assemble teams to competently address our problems. Of these potential candidates the leaders need to step forward and make their case now. The President's weakness is only going to worsen as ISIS and Ebola play out. The economy too can potentially become a major issue as we end the money printing and try to get Europe out of the recession created by the sanctions on Russia. At this point the liberals and the public are so disappointed in the President that all Democrats running may lose next month. Yesterday Kentucky's embattled Democratic Senate candidate blasted the administration's handling of Ebola. Holder is gone. The head of the CDC and Homeland Security are both in trouble. And, his National Security advisor is looking incompetent once again.
By the way, Bill, excellent article. I am always amazed when I think of the change in our lives the I-Phone has made. One little hand held set can connect you to everything you need with the push of a button. Research and download apps and it truly gets unbelievable.
Posted by: Bill McCormick | October 17, 2014 at 08:30 AM