Outline of the Issue

I've attempted to create a preliminary outline of the issue, and many sub-issues, that I'm interested in.

This outline demonstrates my current understanding, based on previous research I've conducted as a research assistant and through an independently-designed course focused on this topic. I expect this outline to be constantly in flux as I learn more.

Obviously, this is a very extensive topic, so I've put in bold the elements I wish to explore first.

I) Understanding the problem
    A) China pollutes its water
        i. Why is there more pollution in China than other countries (stage of dev., policies)
        ii. Who is polluting (what do they produce, what is their relationship to government)
        iii. What chemicals are polluted (mechanics of the pollution itself)
        iv. Which water is affected (geography, where does the pollution travel)
    B) People consume polluted water
        i. Through what mechanism(s) (drinking, clothes and food washing)
        ii. Which populations (geography income levels, age levels, ethnicities)
    C) People who consume polluted water become sick
        i. What sorts of illnesses
        ii. What are the biological explanations linking pollutants and these illnesses
        iii. Within water-consumers, which populations are affected by which illnesses
    D) People becoming sick is bad
        i. How does illness in an individual affect life expectancy and quality of life
        ii. How does illness in an individual affect family (QoL, dependence on gov’t)
        iii. How does illness in a community affect China (social programs, productivity)
        iv. How does illness in Chinese communities affect the world (dev. of China)

II) Speculating on the solution
    A) There exists an efficient amount of abatement
        i. Abatement has costs (monetary costs, labor costs, loss in production)
        ii. Abatement has benefits (health, agriculture, global clean water supply)
    B) The efficient amount of abatement fluctuates with a country’s development (EKC)
        i. At low development, not producing pollution
        ii. At mid-development, detriments of abatement far outweigh benefits
        iii. At high-development, benefits of abatement increasingly outweigh detriments
    C) The goal is to reach the efficient amount at each stage of development
        i. May occur naturally as industry shifts
        ii. More likely requires policy interference
    D) Policy aimed towards the efficient abatement level may or may not occur
        i. Relies on correct valuation of the costs of abatement
        ii. Relies on correct valuation of the benefits of abatement
        iii. Relies on amicable political environment to accept valuation
    E) Policy may or may not be implemented effectively
        i. Correct resource requirements must be identified (money, labor)
        ii. Corruption must not interfere with implementation
    F) We’re not there yet
        i. Policy may be aiming at the wrong amount of abatement
        ii. Policy is not being implemented maximally effectively
    G) Things can be done to help us get there
        i. Correct valuation of costs of abatement (Can rich countries loan technology?)
        ii. Correct valuation of benefits of abatement (Exposing true health costs)
        iii. Increase political pressure to accept valuation (Admit the problem)
        iv. Direct correct amount of resources at policy implementation
        v. Cut down on corruption

Blog Content

While neither you nor I know exactly what to expect from this blog, I plan to update it in three ways:

1) Regular posts about my independent research efforts. These may include descriptions of and/or reflections on the materials I am reading, chronicles of my objectives and plans, or any other relevant information on the current state of my research.

2) Posts on material learned in class. I will be auditing 2 or 3 courses at Nanjing University throughout at least the Fall semester, and will post about the main ideas or interesting points made in class.

3) Additions to the "Relevant Links" section. These will most likely be from mainstream media sources, although they may occasionally include a more obscure site that I think would be interesting to readers.

I want to emphasize that I welcome reader comments either on the site or via email, Alison.Flamm@gmail.com. I am a new to independent research, and the thoughts of others are invaluable to my progress and success!