Have you
ever dreamed of hitting it big in the lottery? A Nobel Prize winning economist
would argue that you already have.
Angus Deaton
is a professor of Economics at Princeton University whose work centers on health
and economic wellbeing. Deaton compares countries based on two things: average life expectancy (health) and the
possibility for upward mobility (economic well-being). His conclusion: the biggest factor contributing to an individual's health
and economic well-being is the country in which they were born. i.e. the
luck of the draw
Deaton’s
award winning book shows that even the poorest countries are seeing
improvements in life expectancy and income mobility. The title of the book
comes from the growing number of these countries, Vietnam and Thailand for
example, whose populations have made what he calls "The Great
Escape."
The tragic
part of Deaton's book is the countries whose populations are experiencing
shortened life expectancies and less opportunity for upward mobility.
These countries have one thing in common: long term civil unrest.
The
Democratic Republic of the Congo has been immersed in a civil war since the
1940’s and comes out on the very bottom
of each of the book’s statistical tables.
The
Archdiocese of Newark is in the final steps of preparing to welcome 51 refugees
from several countries including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria
and Iraq.
The social
concerns ministry of St. Mary's is hoping to get on board by sponsoring one of
these families. We have invited a representative
from Catholic charities to give a presentation on the process.
E-mail me at
b.mauro1@yahoo.com or call the
parish to be on our Social Concerns mailing list.
Congratulating
you on your lottery win and wishing you a blessed Easter,
Bruce
No comments:
Post a Comment