Policy Wise

Biofuels have been offered an alternative to conventional energy sources. But new research from the Nobel prize winning chemist Paul Crutzen suggests that they might end up causing more damage,
German Nobel-prize winning chemist Paul Crutzen and his team of researchers have calculated the emissions released by the growth and burning of crops such as maize, [...]

An interesting new article in Foreign Policy argues that it might be too late to stop global warming and the world should be prepared to live with its effects,
A realistic look at climate change suggests that it is time to change the debate. In 2005, a paper published by the U.N. Environment Program put [...]

In another setback in the global fight against AIDS, the Step Study, the most promising in the efforts to develop an AIDS vaccine has failed,
a promising experimental AIDS vaccine failed to work in a large international test, leading the developer to halt the study. Merck & Co. said Friday that it is ending enrollment and [...]

Abortion is a right. So should be sex determination.

In a recent judgment, the Mumbai High Court has ruled against a plea seeking quashing of the amendment to Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT Act) which prohibits sex-determination. The petitioners argued that the PCPNDT Act in its current form was in conflict with [...]

Finally, a sensible decision.
The Centre is planning to set up Higher Education Loan Guarantee Authority (HELGA) to help needy students meet university and college education expenses.
The proposal to set up a HELGA was discussed at the recent meeting of full Planning Commission headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
[...]

An interesting new paper by Professor Charles Courtemanache argues just that,
A causal relationship between gasoline prices and obesity is possible through mechanisms of increased exercise and decreased eating in restaurants. I use a fixed effects model to explore whether this theory has empirical support, finding that an additional $1 in real gasoline prices would reduce [...]

Regular readers would recall that agricultural subsidies hold particular interest for this blogger. While they definitely harm the farmers in the developing countries, do they benefit the West? Or more importantly even its farmers?
Since 1970, farm subsidies have totaled $578 billion, according to the historical tables of the U.S. budget. What has the public [...]

The Manufacturers of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) which has been rejected by the Indian government have raised their price again,
The vaunted “$100 laptop” that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers dreamed up for international schoolchildren is becoming a slightly more distant concept.Leaders of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child that was spun out of MIT [...]

This is a sponsored post via review me)

Photobiomodulation also known as low intensity laser therapy (LLLT) and cold laser therapy, is a medical procedure in which exposure to low level laser is said to enhance tissue growth. While the origin of laser theory is attributed to Albert Einstein, the technique of cold laser therapy [...]

In a very interesting piece, economists Gary Becker and Kevin M Murphy argue that inequality can have a positive effects if it can create an incentive to tackle its root cause: rising payoff of college education.
Why is the earnings gap widening? Because the demand for educated and other skilled persons is growing. That is [...]