*Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic; **Universal Health Income;*** Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity

For most of us 2020 will be remembered as annus horribilis, and as we continue to argue what are the best measures to combat COVID-19, one thing we all agree is that our response, especially in the US, is abysmal.

Whether this frailty is inherent to capitalism or a consequence of a leadership void, the recommendations of what state and federal governments need to do to control the pandemic remain consistently simple: (1) restrict travel, (2) impose social distancing, and (3) increase the…

DLT primitives and decentralization can alleviate the racial disparities of medical, social and economic determinants of Health

On June 2, Axios reported that according to Google Trends “George Floyd” overtook “coronavirus” as the most popular search (below), and that in the span of a week, our interest in health and economic pain, shifted to social and systemic pain.

Why Blockchain is the “DNA therapy” for Healthcare Economics

The reddish-brown tone of Bruegel’s “Triumph of Death” over earthly things (above), gives his army of skeletons an infernal stage that offers both the poor and rich, no hope. This sense of post-pandemic despair is appropriate, as we witness helplessly in the US the loss of over 100,000 lives and 40 million new unemployment applications, representing the total collapse of our health and economic systems.

But pandemics end and it is necessary to use these times as an opportunity to re-imagine our future (I write about this here).

History has shown…

Why self-sovereign identity (SSID) is central to our private and secure future

Air travel will never be the same after COVID-19. Just as since 9/11 we do not step on-board unless assured there are no weapons, we too, will seek a virus-free travel. Although TSA officers will continue to check our passports (and perhaps temperature), we might also start seeing Transport Health Authority officials (THA), examining our health status, based ideally on international health screening and sanitation standards, led by global entities like IATA, ACI and the WHO.

However, beyond the hassle of an even earlier check-in for disinfection tunnels…

The World Happiness Report on: Subjective Wellbeing, Urban-Rural Divide, Sustainable Development Goals, and how Blockchain can help fix all this

As we enter the tenth week of COVID-19 in NY, there are indications that the number of sick are decreasing and that a persistent 14-day decline in hospitalizations and deaths; hospital vacancies and ICU bed availabilities at 30%; at least 30 virus tests per 1,000 residents a month; and at least 30 working contact tracers per 100,000 residents; are sufficient criteria to reopen the city for business.

Yet as NY case counts are decreasing, many States remain vulnerable and most…

Using Blockchain will create resilient health, economic and social future

History rhymes during the crisis.

• Venice, a major 15th-century commercial hub knew that quarantining (from Italian: Quaranta giorni or 40 days), plague-stricken people on the Island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, was the only way to allow the economy to survive the Black Death.
• Dr. Tuttle (the Dr. Fauci of 1918) experienced during the Spanish Flu, the same resistance to his calls for social distancing, even though President Wilson was sickened by it and forgone his post World War I negotiations.
• September 11th was a single day that exposed the frailty of…

Only when Privacy Preserving Technologies are Decentralized they become Dignity Preserving Technologies

I had a vivid dream where I was taken against my will to the emergency field hospital at Javits Convention Center, after a positive contact tracing signal and no available tests turned me into a “health risk”. As I entered the makeshift facility with no valid immunity passport, soldiers handcuffed me with an electronic bracelet, that I couldn’t remove…

I woke up checking if a number wasn’t tattooed on my forearm…

Luckily the facility at Javits Center is closing, centralized government-sponsored contact tracing is seriously being reconsidered, and…

In this time of crisis we face a choice between digital surveillance and citizen empowerment. This is why Blockchain really matters.

Dr. Bernard Rieux heads a small hospital in the coastal town of Oran and works long hours treating patients. He was the first to urge authorities to take action to stop the spread of the disease that if left untreated, could kill half his town’s population. Even when a quarter of the city was dying, Dr. Rieux still kept doing his job, because decency redeems not just the individual, but all of humanity.

“It may seem a ridiculous idea”…