Think Pieces reviewed and written by Lakshmi and Seetha Ram

Interesting insights. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/family/2020/11/everything-is-different-this-year-so-why-not-holiday-stress-coronavirus/ Best regards Seetha Ram

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/11/28/how-to-sterilise-scalpels-when-no-electricity-is-available In tests carried out at a hospital in Mumbai, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology in that city, Dr Zhao's new autoclave was able to sustain steam at a temperature of 128°C and two atmospheres of pressure for half an hour. Best regards Seetha Ram

Staring at your face on Zoom for hours instead of occasionally glimpsing it in the mirror. Living out the days in loungewear. Wearing minimal makeup because no one sees much of you. Considering an investment in home exercise equipment because gyms are closed or restricted. The pandemic has forced people to spend more time with themselves than ever. Along the way, it has reshaped and broadened the way many think about and prioritize how they treat themselves — what has come to be called self-care. https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/in-pandemic-era%27s-isolation-meaning-of-%27self-care%27-evolves? Best regards Seetha Ram

Quite interesting.  An eight month long study of all the 20,000 genes in the human genome by a team of CRISPR scientists claims to have found  genes that can protect human cells against Covid-19 .    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/20/crispr-scientists-claim-identified-genes-that-protect-against-covid.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=covid_bytes_daily_newsletter

Agree ? All said, American policymakers can learn a lot from Japan. Of course, there are many complications and complexities that make it impossible to import Japan-style capitalism and economic policy into America. However, the lesson from Japan is clearly that yes, it is possible to balance income growth and income distribution. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/11/13/commentary/japan-commentary/japanese-style-capitalism-us-income-growth-and-equality/ Best regards Seetha Ram

We read each day of new projections on cases, hospital loads and deaths from COVID-19. In this webinar, Dr. Robert Eberlein presents the basic structure of models used to make these projections and the types of information necessary to get accurate projections. He shows different ways to model interventions such as testing, social distancing, antiviral medications, and vaccines, and their effect on the spread and severity of the disease. The presentation builds understanding from the ground up, starting from the framework of a simple diffusion model, and shows how additional characteristics of disease progression can be added in. There is also a discussion of the special challenges that modeling COVID-19 poses relative to the flu and other infectious diseases. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhywbOgMXe0

Before the coronavirus came into our collective lives, I was largely unaware of what my kids and their teachers did in school all day — and vice versa. But now, those boundaries have become a thing of our pre-pandemic past. My son and 6-year-old daughter's teachers know what every room on the first floor of my house looks like, and that my parenting style sometimes involves yelling. And I know what phrases their teachers use to get their attention ("1, 2, 3, eyes on me!"); and that sometimes my kids can't find a pencil even though the box is sitting right in front of them. My Son Thinks I'm His Teacher https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/parenting/remote-learning-parent-boundaries.html?referringSource=articleShare Best regards Seetha Ram

how should we decide which city is the best?   — Asia Pathways is the blog of the Asian Development Bank Institute. It publishes short, original articles on economics and development in Asia and the Pacific. Subscribe at   https://bit.ly/2QuuY5s . Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser . World competition among cities: City trends and the framing of a livable city November 2020 | Kyoko Takahashi and Shreyas P. Bharule Over the next 3 decades, about 70% of the world's population is expected to be living in urban areas. Within the next decade, by 2030, the world is projected to have over 40 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants. Such population flows into cities will disrupt the functioning of cities and lead to urban issues, such as transportation congestion, air pollution, and housing shortages. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has presented an unprecedented case in the history of global economics. The pandemic has left many cou...

Wonderful work at UTokyo. https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/features/voices021.html —

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/10/29/what-gdp-can-and-cannot-tell-you-about-the-post-pandemic-economy gdp is a crude proxy for a country's economic health at the best of times, the sterling efforts of government data-gatherers notwithstanding. Tempting as it is to compare flows, sound economic management demands a different focus in the face of a deadly pandemic. 7 Best regards Seetha Ram