Current Event #1: Due 5/28 You will submit a 2-3 page paper based on an article of a current event. The paper should be a summary of the article and then analysis of an economic principle affecting...

Article link:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2020/05/06/covid-19-crowding-out-non-covid-19-healthcare-and-drug-development/#45a4138a736a
The article “COVID-19 Crowding Out Non-COVID-19 Healthcare and Drug Development” written by Joshua Cohen, published in Forbes on May 6. 2020 elucidates us about the opportunity cost of allocated resources to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The world is facing one of the greatest challenges of COVID-19 crisis today. The confirmed cases are rising every day with more than 300000 deaths worldwide within a time span of three months only. The pandemic has placed huge burden on the health care system across the world. From United Sates to world’s poorest country, everyone is scaling up their sincere efforts to combat this massive challenge. Irrespective of their economic status, all the countries are allocating the available resources in funding to fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Allocating all the available resources to fight the COVID-19 outbreak definitely has an opportunity cost. The funds that are now being spent to tackle the pandemic can be spent otherwise or address some other important issues in health care. The author has gained a deep insight on this opportunity cost issue of resource allocation towards the novel corona virus. (Cohen, 2020)
Since people have wide variety of choices but the available resources are scarce, they have to make choices. While making one choice, we have to forego other choices. Economists refer this foregone cost as the opportunity cost. It refers to the next best alternative use of resources that has to be foregone. Economists suggest that every economic activity is associated with some opportunity cost. Whenever one economic activity is chosen, some other activities have to be sacrificed. The use of resources in the next best alternative purpose is what is known as opportunity cost. For example, government can spend the funds either on building hospital or on building college for higher education as both are important for social and economic wellbeing for the citizen. Now if government decides to build a hospital then it is foregoing the benefit of establishing a college- this is nothing but opportunity cost. (McEachern, 2006)
This economic theory of opportunity cost is applicable in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The money or resources that is spent to fight against this public health crisis cannot be used elsewhere to address other health care issues. In order to accommodate growing number of COVID-19 patients, many other units in the hospitals are temporarily closed down. Pharmaceutical companies and research institutions have placed a pause in their research activities in favour to work towards Corona pandemic. Cancer screenings and the non-emergency surgeries have been postponing in several hospitals. Overall, the patients who are suffering with non COVID-19 conditions are affected significantly during the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Despite...