Countdown

I spent much of this week analysing incentives when considering 'who should pay the costs of higher education?' for a university essay.

I was amazed to learn Cuba eliminated 40% illiteracy in a decade thanks to a bit of solidarity and thoughtful planning… a reminder to be grateful for participating in a health system that works for everyone. Well, kind of: every so often I want to pull my (imaginary) hair out. Example: ‘you can try the clinical trial, but for the moment there’s only space on the waiting list. Oh yes, we know GBM median life expectancy is 14.7 months’. But I do understand we have Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratios to take into account.

I was amazed to learn how dominant the US remains in all types of global university rankings… a reminder to be grateful for a GBM medical market in which a seven-figure fee will get you into the best US hospitals, and a six-figure one will get you into your choice of clinical trial treatment. To quote the Guide: ‘this planet had a problem: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time… most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy’. Happily, my five-figure (thank you, insurance) oncologist offered to write out a prescription for a promising medication we recently learned about—only that we need to tell him what the right dosage is. Incredible market efficiency or market failure? I’m not sure.

And then there’s an incentive that transcends them all: fear of death. This is what drove a Harvard doctor with GBM to concoct a cocktail of 'regular' drugs—targeted at everything from acne to insomnia—to supplement the classic surgery-radio-chemo trifecta. Ben Williams has beaten the GBM 'Terminator' for an insane 19 years. Surprisingly, his approach hasn’t been taken very seriously by medical planners (too wacky?) or the market (the cocktail costs four-figures). Medical experts told Prof Williams that he might hurt himself. His response: ‘Hurt myself? I had the most aggressive kind of brain tumour. I was expected to die in a year. What did I have to lose?’

Another man who was toughened up by a bit of terminal cancer: Doyle Brunson, The Godfather of Poker. He’s earned seven-figures in prizes while battling cancer for decades. My own milestone this week: a two-figure tournament win. All in! Welcome to your life, it's your only one.

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