You are in charge of funding medical research for an imaginary country. There are 11 diseases in this country. Of disease sufferers, 80% suffer from disease A, 11% from disease B, and 1% each suffer from each of the remainin 8 diseases C-K. Every $1 billion you spend on researching a disease reduces the absolute number of sufferers from that disease by 1%. (To clarify: that means that if you spend $2 billion on disease B, you reduce the total number of disease suffers by 2% of 11%.) You have $11 billion. What is your optimal spending pattern?
(You can make this problem more interesting by introducing diminishing returns. Suppose the first $1 billion spent on a disease reduces deaths from that disease by 1%, the next $1 billion by 1/2%, the next $1 billion by 1/4%, etc.) Does spending more on diseases A and B make sufferers of other diseases "second class citizens"? Discuss. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
