EclectEcon

Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common: Both dwell on foregone opportunities

C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre . . . . . . . . . . . . . email: jpalmer at uwo dot ca


. . . . . . . . . . .Richard Posner should be awarded the next Nobel Prize in Economics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Friday, April 15, 2005

Viagra, Religion, and the Economy:
a Set of Simultaneous Equations?

Many religious leaders would like to have us believe that religious rules provide parameters for an economy. In contrast, those of us who tend toward economic imperialism see religious rules as endogenous to the economy, being changed in the face of changes in technology and/or relative prices.

There is probably a bit of both in this story (thanks to BrianF for the link):
Viagra had been deemed not kosher since 1998 under strict dietary laws over the week-long Jewish spring holiday. ...

The drug was previously prohibited because its coating was considered inedible over Passover, when contact with everyday ingredients, known as hametz, is forbidden under Jewish law.

...Viagra's Israeli manufacturers said they sought an answer after receiving queries from worried religious men.

Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu said the pill can be swallowed if it is encased in a special soluble kosher capsule first.
So Viagra is Kosher, now, so long as the coating is Kosher. I wonder if the same ruling applies to Cialis.
 
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