#econposting

Research focused academic jobs should answer under "other" rather than education.

Some ideas:

Rent control? Wonder which country had the most destructive one

German dismantling of nuclear industry

US: hospital certificates of need, or maybe the Jones Act?

Pension triple lock (UK)

Canada?

France?

Italy?

Others?

Since Monday I've been in the UK staying with my uncle's family. He's late stage in cancer and in particularly rough shape after a recent surgery.

My main takeaway is that caring for someone in this state is overwhelmingly labor intensive in a way you just can't get until you do it. He's in hospital so his basic medical needs are being taken care of, but he can barely speak on his own. Needs his feet rubbed and his limbs physically moved, crust wiped off his lips, an intricate feeding process involving removing his oxygen mask, giving a sip of nutrient drink, replacing facemask. Feeding him one takes about twenty minutes. This is not mentioning things like just talking to him. Then there's advocating for him to the multiple medical teams, who are competent but overworked and barely coordinating with each other.

This occupies most of every day for his wife, his eldest son, my mother, and I. If we didn't do it he'd be alive but in horrible condition. Visiting hours end at 8PM and by the time we get home and eat dinner we are absolutely exhausted.

So to conclude:

1. Unless radical AI developments allow for complex physical medical care, the aging population is going to suck up radically more labor than you realize in a few decades or we will have to accept far worse standards of care for the badly I'll.