It is difficult to appreciate how powerful some private companies are. We tend to overlook the powerful connections between economic and political power. One way to think about economic power is to compare how many economic resources are available to a political agent. For example, how the size of a corporation compares with the stock market of a state:

An experimental vaccine against the Ebola virus has been tested in Guinea and it appears as if the vaccine is 100% effective. If these tests are valid, then the development of the vaccine would be a tremendous breakthrough against one of the most virulent viruses to affect humans. One can only hope that the resources will be made available so that the vaccine can be widely distributed across affected areas: vaccinations are difficult and expensive in many areas of Africa and the local governments lack the money to conduct such protocols.
A Yale University study has found that about 40% of the world’s population is completely unaware of the problem of climate change. The finding should not be surprising, but it does suggest how far the world is away from reaching a consensus on effective measures to address the issue. Interestingly, people in Latin America seem to be the most aware of the problem of all the regions polled. The variations across regions should provide insights into how best to communicate the dangers of climate change based upon cultural differences.

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