Ecstasy (MDMA) deaths in New York City: a case series and review of the literature

MDMA ("ecstasy") has gained renewed popularity as a drug of abuse. To access the epidemiology and causes of death of MDMA-positive fatalities, all deaths investigated by the OCME that tested positive for MDMA (22 deaths) between January 1997 and June 2000 were reviewed. There were three deaths in each 1997 and 1998, eleven in 1999, and five in the first part of 2000. Of these 22 deaths, 13 were due to acute drug intoxications, 7 due to mechanical injury (blunt trauma, gunshot wounds), and 2 due to a combination of natural disease and acute drug intoxication. Evidence of recent opiate and/or cocaine use was found in 7 of the acute intoxication deaths and in none of the traumatic or combination natural/intoxication deaths. The race of all decedents was White between the ages of 17-41 years, and 18 of 22 were men.     

Utility maximizing bureaucrats: The bureaucrat's point of view

In this paper we develop a model to examine the extent to which bureaucrats are maximizing their own utility. In the spirit of Williamson (1964) and Simon (1957), we assume that bureaucrats are utility maximizers but not necessarily cost minimizers and we investigate how well the bureaucrat is doing in relation to his own goals. First, we hypothesize a utility function for the bureaucrat — we assume that the bureaucrat gains utility from producing municipal services as well as from hiring additional labor and capital. Then, using the concept of money metric utility, we determine the minimum expenditure necessary to achieve the same level of utility actually observed. Secondly, we determine the bureaucrat's distance from the utility maximizing choice of resources for a given level of expenditure. Finally, using a sample of public sector bureaucrats we attempt to explain the variation in wasted expenditure across municipalities and why bureaucrats might be underutilizers of each input relative to their own utility maximizing point.