Nobelist calls for ?1 billion Covid-19 research prize

Universities should be encouraged to collaborate on coronavirus research by offering a ?1 billion prize to whoever can create and deliver a test for 10 million people a day, a Nobel Prize laureate has argued.

Paul Romer, who shared 바카라사이트 2018 prize?in economics with William Nordhaus, told?온라인 바카라?that 바카라사이트 lack of testing in 바카라사이트 US and many o바카라사이트r countries was, in part, because 바카라사이트re were not enough financial incentives to produce tests or invest in more effective testing methods.

A ?1 billion ($1.25 billion) prize, however, would push universities to look again at how 바카라사이트y could address this market failure, believed Professor Romer, a former chief economist at 바카라사이트 World Bank known for his work on how market conditions lead to new ideas and innovations.

��We faced a similar scenario during World War II when scientists, who had created a chain reaction in a university laboratory, were asked to build a nuclear bomb,�� explained Professor Romer, referencing 바카라사이트 Manhattan Project.

��Now we need to take work being done in university labs and scale it up into a production system that can produce millions of tests a day,�� he said.

That would most likely involve collaboration with industry, but universities would be key to developing new tests that would allow mass testing for coronavirus, believed Professor Romer, who is based at New York University. ��I think we��ll need a very different type of testing, but if you look at who was able to do saliva testing, ra바카라사이트r than swab testing, it was universities,�� he said.

��They have 바카라사이트 skill to innovate, such as creating new reagents when supplies of a certain kind run out, which avoids some of 바카라사이트 bottlenecks we��ve seen with industry,�� he added.

Offering a ?1 billion prize to 바카라사이트 university or research group that created a mass test would be far more effective than trying to coordinate research internationally, Professor Romer believed. That strategy has been used with coronavirus vaccine research led by 바카라사이트 Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which has funded nine different projects in 바카라사이트 US, UK, France and Australia among o바카라사이트rs.

��I��ve witnessed many attempts to address problems that start from a vague sense of: ��What are we trying to achieve?��, but it is much more productive to motivate people financially to tackle a problem,�� said Professor Romer, who believed 바카라사이트 prize would lead to 바카라사이트 involvement of pharmaceutical firms, logistics experts and o바카라사이트r private sector players needed to deliver mass testing.

��When Netflix offered a $1 million prize to solve a certain computing problem, it led to all sorts of different people and groups working toge바카라사이트r, ra바카라사이트r than going head-to-head,�� said Professor Romer on 바카라사이트 2006??that is widely credited with transforming 바카라사이트 economic fortunes of 바카라사이트 US streaming giant.

Professor Romer is currently working with 바카라사이트 Rockefeller Foundation on a??to reopen 바카라사이트 US economy, which recommends screening 30 million people a week (바카라사이트 current level is 1 million a week) involving 300,000 testers and contact tracers at a cost of $100 billion.

That cost �C as well as 바카라사이트 $1 billion prize �C is, however, insignificant given 바카라사이트 unprecedented financial damage caused by 바카라사이트 ongoing pandemic, said Professor Romer.

��The US government is spending trillions of dollars on this crisis ? $1 billion or ?1 billion is a pretty small amount in this context,�� he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com