Federal policy mandating safer cigarettes: a hypothetical simulation of the anticipated population health gains or losses.

If manufacturing a safer cigarette is technically possible--an open question--then mandating that tobacco manufacturers improve the safety of cigarettes would likely have both positive and negative implications for the nation's health. On the one hand, removing toxins may reduce the incidence of smoking-related diseases and premature mortality in smokers. On the other hand, smokers might be less inclined to quit, those who have quit might resume the habit, and youth who have never smoked will have one less reason to avoid tobacco use. To assess the expected population health impacts of a legislative or regulatory mandate, we created the Tobacco Policy Model, a system dynamics computer simulation model. The model relies on secondary data and simulates the U.S. population over time spans as long as 50 years. Our simulation results reveal that even if requiring cigarettes to be safer makes smoking more attractive and increases tobacco use, a net gain in population health is still possible.     

Notes on South Asia in Crisis

Abstract

Louis Dumont has argued persuasively that the concept of caste is not simply a form of social stratification, but a way of looking at society as a whole. Dumont argues that the “Western mind” sees society as the relationship between individuals and the mass, but that the “Indian mind” sees relationships between groups (castes) and social unity. This holistic concept of Indian society is essentially religious, for it is based on beliefs and values which reflect a sacred order, undergird religious institutions, and are the subjects of religious texts. At the heart of these beliefs and values are the Hindu concepts of purity/pollution, and the karmic cycle of birth and rebirth. Both of these concepts are intimately related to the notion of Untouchability; and without them, the caste system would lose its religious legitimacy. The question, then, is whether the Untouchables accept this logic, or whether it is forced upon them.     

The Ties that Bind and Blind: Embeddedness and Radicalisation of Youth in One Islamist Organisation in Pakistan

This article explains the factors that contributed to the socialisation of youth into a radical ideology in one nationally powerful Islamist organisation in Pakistan. It argues that young individuals who join Islamist organisations do not necessarily hold pre-existing extremist views that dispose them towards such organisations. Instead, the radicalisation of personal beliefs and worldview may in fact also occur after joining such an organisation. Findings indicate that young members’ gradual orientation to an Islamist ideology resulted from the interplay of a number of factors. First, their close and significant friendships increasingly became concentrated inside the organisation. Second, participation in various organisational meetings brought a personally meaningful improvement in their skills and self-esteem. Third, the organisation bestowed power and influence on its members, both in psychological and actual terms.     

Governing sustainable palm oil supply: Disconnects,complementarities, and antagonisms between state regulations and private standards

The global palm oil value chain has grown in complexity; stakeholder relationships and linkages are increasingly shaped by new public and private standards that aim to ameliorate social and environmental costs while harnessing economic gains. Regulatory initiatives in the emerging policy regime complex struggle to resolve sector‐wide structural performance issues: pervasive land conflicts, yield differences between companies and smallholders, and carbon emissions arising from deforestation and peatland conversion. Identifying opportunities for more effective governance of the palm oil value chain and supply landscapes, this paper explores disconnects, complementarities, and antagonisms between public regulations and private standards, looking at the global, national, and subnational policy domains shaping chain actors’ conduct. Greater complementarities have emerged among transnational instruments, but state regulation disconnects persist and antagonisms prevail between national state regulations and transnational private standards. Emerging experimental approaches, particularly at subnational level, aim to improve coordination to both enhance complementarities and resolve disconnects.     

Preventing radicalism in educational institutions: Pakistan a case in point

With the recent drastic shifts in societies, thinking styles, and most importantly, the degree of online‐and‐offline exposure, it is easy for the young and developing mind to fall prey to radical or extremist ideas. Radical organizations direct their recruiting efforts toward those who have yet to reach adolescence and are incapable of forming well‐informed and educated decisions. Since it is in human nature to target the weak and the vulnerable, these organizations look for dissatisfied, isolated and friendless young people. They are especially allured when these organizations promise to get them all they lack. As there have been incidents recently reported on young students' involvement in terror activities, the study proposes alternatives to prevent them from falling prey to radical thoughts. The proposed alternatives are judged through TOPSIS (Technique of Order Preference Similarity to the Ideal Solution) and the ideal alternative is singled out after mathematical calculation. Out of the five proposed alternatives, the study, through TOPSIS analysis, proposes that parents may be trained to handle their children in order to keep them from radical thoughts. In addition to the ideal alternative, the study also suggests that the government take preventive measures to curb the evil of radicalism.     

Fiscal consolidation and economic growth in India: Do policymakers need to shift focus from quantity to quality of fiscal adjustments?

This paper evaluates the impacts of fiscal consolidation programmes and their composition on the growth rate of national income for Indian economy. More specifically the study tries to address two questions that is, composition of consolidation and its resultant impact on growth rate of income and the relative desirability of alternative sources of deficit financing that is, internal versus external borrowing. The study employed time series data from 1990–1991 to 2017–2018 and used the technique of ordinary least square and generalized method of moments. The study finds that, in long run, fiscal consolidation need not be necessarily recessionary in nature. Moreover, the composition of consolidation was found to have a significant impact. The study could not extend empirical support in favour of back‐loaded (spending financed) consolidation design as has been established for advanced economies. Moreover the study could not establish the negative impacts of revenue funded (both tax and non‐tax) fiscal consolidation on the growth rate of economy. The study documented that it is desirable to target expenditures such as subsidies, transfers and interest payments to infuse more discipline. A judicious mixture of both spending cuts and revenue increase may be a better strategy to consolidate in order to have better returns. The study highlighted that the external source of deficit financing is always costlier against the internal borrowings. The study noted that it is imperative on part of policymakers to shift their focus from quantity to the quality of deficits and the resultant consolidation programmes.     

Socio-economic determinants of the family history of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Pakistan

This article aims to assess the role of important socio-economic factors in the family history of tuberculosis patients in Pakistan. Data were collected from 269 patients, and a logistic regression was used to determine the association between risk factors and the vicious circle of TB. Results of the logistic model show that significant risk factors associated with TB history in patients were education, household size, house structure, rooms in the home, room ventilation, monthly income, income food sufficiency, smoking, diabetes, and heart disease. The current TB control programme needs to formulate strategies to target specific risk factors and poverty reduction simultaneously to break the vicious circle of tuberculosis.     

Peace or Justice? Transitional Justice in Afghanistan

The three decades of conflict in Afghanistan have taken thelives of more than a million people and the country and itspeople have suffered the gravest violations of human rights.There is a strong desire for justice among the Afghanis, butsince the fall of the Taliban, the transitional government withits base of international support has intentionally ignoredthe calls to deal with these past injustices. While Afghanistan has come a long way towards establishing democraticinstitutions, such as parliament, failure to deal with the crimesof the past threatens the legitimacy and democratic foundationof these institutions. The country has started on a path dealing with these past injusticesby conducting a comprehensive national consultation and developinga transitional justice strategy that is coherent, multidimensionaland based on the views of the public. The success of this resultingstrategy remains precarious, however, due to both the ongoinginsecurity in the country as well as its dependence upon theunreliable political will of Afghanistan's leadership.