Consumption with Negative Utility

This afternoon, I subjected myself to a third tuberculosis test in nine years. Given that TB has a reputation for being a “poverty disease,” and that more than half of the cases in the United States are found in foreign-born individuals, the most efficient use of precious public and private funds would seem to be to screen members of “high risk” subpopulations. Yet, instead testing’s universal for many municipal, community college, and public school positions. In addition, it’s mandatory for incoming kindergarteners, something which has proven to be one of the biggest money wasters in this state due to the ridiculously low rates of TB found among them. At the end of the day, I just want to ask: Who’s making money off of injecting all that bacteria?