Session 14!!

Two recent stories on PBS gave me ideas for things we can do globally and in the US to come back poverty. Globally, a researcher has done a study finding that the level of childhood illness up to age 5 is inversely related to IQ. In Mozambique, for example, they have the highest level of severe childhood illness and the lowest average IQ. His theory is that the body needs to use a lot of energy developing the structure and size of the brain. If too much energy is diverted into fighting off illness it inhibits brain development with life long effects. "CHRISTOPHER EPPIG, University of New Mexico: I like to think of this in terms of sort of economics. So, the body has a finite amount of physical energy that it can spend in a limited number of areas.

As a child at a younger age than 5, one estimate shows the brain occupying more than half of the body's entire energy budget. And at newborn -- as a newborn, that number may be as high as 87 percent. And another expensive thing that the body does is fights off infectious disease. And so, like any kind of budget, if you have a limited amount of funds, if you take money out of one area, it has to come from somewhere.

RAY SUAREZ: Eppig found that countries with the highest levels of infectious disease also had the lowest average I.Q.s. Researchers matched I.Q. estimates of 192 countries against 28 infectious diseases listed by the World Health Organization. Mozambique, which ranks at the bottom of I.Q. scores, also tops the charts in disease burden.

CHRISTOPHER EPPIG: The structure and the size of our brain is what gives us our intelligence. And, so, exposure to disease early in childhood can affect the way the brain is built, the way it's structured. And throughout your adult life, you can be left with a brain that wasn't built quite correctly.

DR. EMANUELE CAPOBIANCO, chief of health and nutrition, UNICEF, Mozambique: The study basically says that, if you fight infectious disease, that you will raise I.Q. of a nation.

If this proposition is true, by fighting infectious diseases, you bring up the I.Q. of a nation, which means the productivity of a nation, is a very strong argument for investing in health, in fighting infectious diseases. It's an economic argument that can be extremely strong and powerful for a police maker who will have to decide how to prioritize their investment."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec10/mozambique_11-24.html

Domestically one program offering food assistance to people in or on the edge of poverty has had a positive impact.  "RAY SUAREZ: Has there been any change in who is hungry? As people have lost income, lost their jobs, has the population of the hungry changed?

DAVID BECKMANN: Well, the big increase in hunger is because of unemployment. So, much more than before, it's young people with children, people who have lost their job, people who maybe can't get a full-time job. They're working a few hours, 20 hours a week, but they can't feed their kids. That's the big surge.

RAY SUAREZ: So, we're seeing a lot of new people in that population, people who haven't had this problem before and now are downwardly mobile?

DAVID BECKMANN: Right. There are lots of cases where people five years ago were contributing to food banks. And now they have to go into food pantries to -- to complement what they can afford to buy at a grocery store for their children. That's why it's so important that we do things like provide tax credits for the working poor, so, if somebody's got an $8-an-hour job, that they can get a little bit of extra income that they can use to get their car fixed or maybe enroll in a program as a dental hygienist.

Food banks can provide that kind of assistance. You know, they can provide a couple bags of groceries. And, in fact, people who are struggling with unemployment and the current economy need also to have the supports that we can provide them through our government.

You know, some people -- some people are talking like, you know, the way to improve our economy is to cut programs for poor people. This is bunk. First, we need to help people who are struggling get a leg up. That's good for the economy, for everybody.

And the programs that help poor people are tiny in relationship to the federal budget. So, we need to strengthen those programs, make them work as -- just as effectively as we can for poor people, at this time of real crisis for many families."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/july-dec10/worldfood_11-26.html

Session 12 & 13

The economy today is in horrible shape, worse than its been in a very long time, even for people who never before thought of themselves as poor.  Of course, the book defines poor in terms of material deprivation, and for some of the newly-“impoverished” middle class, it might not have reached that stage, perhaps more of a debt crisis.

Speaking of debt crisis, how to reconcile the intense criticism of the out-of-control federal debt with the inexplicable views on tax breaks for the rich. There is consensus on continuing tax breaks for everyone up to $200k/individually or $250k/family, notwithstanding the adverse impact on the deficit, but how to explain the push to extend tax breaks for the tiny percentage of super-rich?

Besides unemployment, which is a natural and justified concern, the Obama administration was slammed also for the stimulus and “bailouts,” even though much of this began under Bush. Every economist I’ve heard interviewed agrees that the stimulus helped to avoid another Great Depression.  As for bailouts, is the criticism because some of it went to banks—which I can understand—or for any federal spending to prop up the economy? This question is relevant because I wonder whether there is any political viability in reforming further, let alone increasing, any programs to help the poor? Would people view that differently because the recipients are in need? Or is any spending anathema?

It seems like everyone will be focused on cutting back, if only to preserve their political careers, letting the poor (and most others) fend for themselves.

Session 11

Did you know that Georgia is the 5th leading in the nation of people without health care insurance? Health care one of the leading problems in the United states today. There are so many adults and children that are going without health care because they cannot no afford it. Health care insurance is very expensive. Also, with what's going on in the economy, there being no jobs, and then the part time jobs that don't offer the benefits like they used too. For a family who has health insurance and cannot afford to pay their health care premiums, they are likely to be dropped from their plan, depending on how many people are covered on the plan. I think that the Health Care Reform Law is a great thing for the US, especially during this time with the economy being has bad as it is. Health care is going to be more affordable and well help all Americans have coverage. Everyone deserves to have the proper treatment to be treated for whatever might come their way. It is so sad that there are people who get sick cannot afford to pay for the best treatment and end up getting worse or even dying. The Health Care Reform Law will hopefully change this and make things better for people here in America.