For quite some time now (even predating Covid), I’ve suspected that in many situations patents are just an inferior/stopgap market tool, but that a more-nuanced prize system such as you link to would require a trustworthy, competent, and (re)trained bureaucracy. It’s outside of my wheelhouse so I haven’t really actively pursued it, but I personally would be interested to see more research/discussion on the subject.
That being said, I do take some issue with the title of this post, which appears to beg/load the question: one could make an argument that the decision by Bill Gates could aid vaccine distribution by providing more market incentives for production and fast distribution. I’m definitely not familiar with this, but I do suspect that it’s not like the vaccine information is going to be withheld from the world while at the same time pharma companies just price gouge their way through the Global South; I think it’s more likely the vaccines will be provided to developing countries via foreign aid and/or other mechanisms at far lower cost relative to what was charged among wealthy countries. In the end, there are going to be unavoidable costs associated with production and distribution; the question is whether that is covered via foreign aid directly or if it will be funded more-indirectly by the profits gained in developing countries.
I believe that governments can be competent in highly technical endeavors (e.g. Manhattan Project and Apollo Programs), operate large distribution networks (USPS), and run businesses (many states have a legal monopoly on alcohol sales). It’s a matter of investment. This article goes into a lot more detail on how a public pharma sector could work.
but I do suspect that it’s not like the vaccine information is going to be withheld from the world while at the same time pharma companies just price gouge their way through the Global South; I think it’s more likely the vaccines will be provided to developing countries via foreign aid and/or other mechanisms at far lower cost relative to what was charged among wealthy countries.
Vaccine distribution in poor countries has been almost nonexistent so far. This is already a massive problem, and it’s astonishing to me that EA isn’t yelling from the rooftops about it!
“High-income countries, representing just a fifth of the global adult population, have purchased more than half of all vaccine doses, resulting in disparities between adult population share and doses purchased for all other country income groups.”
Maybe rich countries will donate their extra doses once they vaccinate every one of their citizens, but that may not happen for months or years. All the while, people in poor countries are dying from COVID and mutations are more likely to crop up that may bypass vaccines. Of course, this would be good for vaccine makers, who can then make a booster and sell that.
The Manhattan Project, Apollo Program, and USPS all illustrate that the government can sometimes fill a role when given enough money/resources to solve a problem, but they aren’t widely-acknowledged examples of efficiency—in fact, the USPS is often criticized as a prime example of government inefficiency. As to the first two, these could be outliers given their nature as technical endeavors during wartime/security environment pressures.
I’ll leave the latter half of your comment to the other comments that have already been made by others.
For quite some time now (even predating Covid), I’ve suspected that in many situations patents are just an inferior/stopgap market tool, but that a more-nuanced prize system such as you link to would require a trustworthy, competent, and (re)trained bureaucracy. It’s outside of my wheelhouse so I haven’t really actively pursued it, but I personally would be interested to see more research/discussion on the subject.
That being said, I do take some issue with the title of this post, which appears to beg/load the question: one could make an argument that the decision by Bill Gates could aid vaccine distribution by providing more market incentives for production and fast distribution. I’m definitely not familiar with this, but I do suspect that it’s not like the vaccine information is going to be withheld from the world while at the same time pharma companies just price gouge their way through the Global South; I think it’s more likely the vaccines will be provided to developing countries via foreign aid and/or other mechanisms at far lower cost relative to what was charged among wealthy countries. In the end, there are going to be unavoidable costs associated with production and distribution; the question is whether that is covered via foreign aid directly or if it will be funded more-indirectly by the profits gained in developing countries.
I believe that governments can be competent in highly technical endeavors (e.g. Manhattan Project and Apollo Programs), operate large distribution networks (USPS), and run businesses (many states have a legal monopoly on alcohol sales). It’s a matter of investment. This article goes into a lot more detail on how a public pharma sector could work.
Vaccine distribution in poor countries has been almost nonexistent so far. This is already a massive problem, and it’s astonishing to me that EA isn’t yelling from the rooftops about it!
The KHN article lays it out well:
“High-income countries, representing just a fifth of the global adult population, have purchased more than half of all vaccine doses, resulting in disparities between adult population share and doses purchased for all other country income groups.”
Maybe rich countries will donate their extra doses once they vaccinate every one of their citizens, but that may not happen for months or years. All the while, people in poor countries are dying from COVID and mutations are more likely to crop up that may bypass vaccines. Of course, this would be good for vaccine makers, who can then make a booster and sell that.
The Manhattan Project, Apollo Program, and USPS all illustrate that the government can sometimes fill a role when given enough money/resources to solve a problem, but they aren’t widely-acknowledged examples of efficiency—in fact, the USPS is often criticized as a prime example of government inefficiency. As to the first two, these could be outliers given their nature as technical endeavors during wartime/security environment pressures. I’ll leave the latter half of your comment to the other comments that have already been made by others.