By Don C. Reed
If you could invest $2 and get back $15, would you do it?
Okay, how about investing $2.67 billion—and getting back $15.4 billion?
Thanks to the wisdom and foresight of the California voters, we already did.
How much did the California invest in our stem cell program?
Investment: $2.67 billion
And how much did we get back?
Financial returns: $15.4 billion
Personally, I never expected CIRM to be a cash cow. I just wanted money carefully spent to advance the chances of sick people getting well— and that CIRM has done, magnificently—I have written three books about CIRM, so I know whereof I speak.
But this brief article is for those practical souls who want to be sure every dollar spent is a solid investment—and I cannot think how anyone would not agree that California’s stem cell dollars have not brought a good return—better than good! How many investments bring in multiples of the original expenditure?
The California stem cell program (officially titled the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, or CIRM) has spent $2.67 billion on medical research—for which we financially benefited to the tune of roughly $15.4 billion in new money and jobs for the state.
Detailed info?
Go to: http://tinyurl.com/y22ozmhg for a free copy of the 84-page report.
Or, Google it: the “Economic Impacts of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)”, by Dan Wei and Adam Rose, of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, Sol Price School of Publioc Policy, at the University of Southern California.
Right now, the California electrical shutdown is just moments away, and I have to wrap this up.
But check it out for yourself.
And then get ready to help California renew the funding for this magnificent program.
Don C. Reed, author of the forthcoming book, “REVOLUTIONARY THERAPIES”, from World Scientific Publishing, Inc.