1. The concept of pecuniome, or our adventures in search of money MICHAEL KATZ, MD SR. VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH AND GLOBAL PROGRAMS MARCH OF DIMES (CARPENTIER PROFESSOR, EMERITUS OF PEDIATRICS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY)

2. PUBLIC GOODS GOODS THAT ALL ENJOY IN COMMON CONSUMPTION BY ONE DOES NOT SUBTRACT FROM ANY ONE ELSE’S CONSUMPTION EXAMPLES: DEFENSE, LAW,CLEAN AIR, LIGHTHOUSES…

3. INDIVIDUAL GAIN-SEEKING DOES NOT PRODUCE EFFICIENT RESULTS. NO PRIVATE ORGANIZATION CAN REAP ALL THE BENEFITS OF PUBLIC GOOD. “FREE RIDER” PROBLEM: HARDLY ANY ONE IS WILLING TO PAY IF ANY ONE CAN GET IT FOR FREE.

4. THINGS TO COME AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY THE POPULATION OF THE WORLD WAS 1.7 BILLION. AT THE END OF THAT CENTURY, IT HAD SOARED TO 6 BILLION. RECENT ESTIMATES SUGGEST THAT IT WILL BE NEARLY 8 BILLION BY 2025 AND 9.3 BILLION BY 2050. ALMOST ALL OF THIS INCREASE IS FORECAST TO OCCUR IN THE DEVELOPING REGIONS OF AFRICA, ASIA, AND LATIN AMERICA.

5. One clear implication of the tumult in the financial world is that some of the biggest brains in the business, from the Paradeplatz in Zurich, through the 2nd Arrondissement in Paris, and the City of London, to Wall Street, have no idea what will happen next or how to respond.

6. The tripling in the price of oil from $30 a barrel in 2001 to around $100 today represents the largest transfer of wealth in human history. The 13 OPEC members alone are expected to earn more than $1 trillion this year from oil sales. Inevitably, this will bring with it major political consequences. Not the least significant aspect of this political and economic earthquake is that it is being exacted upon the world's most powerful nations by some of the world's weakest. Yet the victims stand by impotently as if the price of oil were some natural event determined by a competitive economic market that is not and cannot be influenced by political forces.OPEC

7. IF OUR PREMISE IS THAT THIS SYSTEM IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE SAKE OF HUMAN HEALTH AND THAT IT IS A NATURAL OUTGROWTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN GENOME PROJECT, WHICH WAS WELL SUPPORTED BY THE HIGH RESOURCE COUNTRIES, WE NEED TO INSIST THAT SUPPORT BE PROVIDED BY THE FEW GOVERNMENTS THAT CAN AFFORD TO DO SO. WE SHOULD DEVELOP A GLOBAL EFFORT OF LOBBYING TO ACHIEVE THIS AND TO RECEIVE A COMMITMENT FOR A CONTINUOUS SUPPORT.

8. . INASMUCH AS THE FRUITS OF THIS PROJECT WOULD BE MARKETABLE TO HEALTH INDUSTRIES, WE NEED TO APPROACH IT ON COMMERCIALLY ECONOMIC BASES AND SEARCH FOR VENTURE CAPITAL. WE NEED TO DISCUSS TODAY WHETHER ONE CAN ENGENDER SUCH INTEREST AND WHAT CAN BE OFFERED AS AN ENTICEMENT TO THOSE WHO JOIN IN.

9. LAST, WE NEED TO RAISE FUNDS IN THE TRADITIONAL WAYS OF CHARITABLE SUPPORT. I WOULD LOOK ON THOSE FUNDS DERIVED USUALLY LOCALLY AS HIGHLY DESIRABLE EXTRAS ON WHICH THIS PROGRAM WOULD NOT DEPEND, BUT WHICH IT COULD DIRECT TO NEW EXPLORATORY RESEARCH EFFORTS.