Differential Diagnosis
According to Jeffrey Sachs, there are five main lessons of clinical medicine that are relevant to economics. Key to applying these concepts is using an approach similar to a differential diagnosis. Sachs has provided a Checklist for performing an economic differential diagnosis, some of which we utilize when designing our integral approach to changing lives.
Checklist for Making a Differential Diagnosis
I. Poverty Trap
Poverty mapping
Proportion of households lacking basic needs
Spatial distribution of household poverty
Spatial distribution of basic infrastructure
(power, roads, telecomm, water and sanitation)
Ethnic, gender, generational distribution of poverty
Key risk factors
Demographic trends
Environmental trends
Climate shocks
Disease
Commodity price fluctuations
Others
II. Economic Policy Framework
Business environment
Trade policy
Investment policy
Infrastructure
Human capital
III. Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Trap
Public sector revenues and expenditures by category
Percent of GNP
Absolute levels in comparison with international norms
Tax administration and expenditure management
Public investment needs to meet poverty reduction targets
Macroeconomic instability
Overhang of public sector debt
Quasi-fiscal debt and hidden debt
Medium-term public sector expenditure framework Â
IV. Physical Geography
Transport conditions
Proximity of population to ports, international trade routes, navigable waterways
Access of population to paved roads
Access of population to motorized transport
Population density
Costs of connectivity to power, telecom, roads
Arable land per capita
Environmental impacts of population-land ratios
Agronomic conditions
Temperature, precipitation, solar insolation
Length and reliability of growing season
Soils, topography, suitability for irrigation
Interannual climate variability (e.g. El Nino)
Long-term trends in climate patterns
Disease ecology
Human diseases
Plant diseases and pests
Animal diseases
V. Governance Patterns and Failures
Civil and political rights
Public management systems
Decentralization and fiscal federalism
Corruption patterns and intensity
Political succession and longevity
Internal violence and security
Cross-border violence and security
Ethnic, religious, and other cultural divisions
VI. Cultural Barriers
Gender relations
Ethnic and religious divisions
Diaspora