New Op-Ed on Social Wealth by Riane

Hi Everyone -

Please check out this great Op-Ed piece by Riane tied to President Obama's State of the Union Address - and share with your networks!

http://www.blogher.com/state-union-our-real-social-wealth

Cheers,
Sara

"The Economic Idiocy of Economists" by Mark Weisbrot

Also of interest to Caring Economists:  Mark Weisbrot's Op-Ed piece reporting on the American Economic Association's annual meeting in Chicago, January 5-8, 2012.  Dr. Weisbrot Co-Founded and Co-Directs, with Dean Baker, the Centre for Economic Policy and Research based in Washington, DC.

His article first appeared in The Guardian on January 10, with reprints in several national news outlets.  His position was perhaps summed up best as this: "The United States pays about twice as much per person for health care as other high-income countries -- and still leaves 50 million people uninsured.  This is a result of a dysfunctional health care system that has had health care prices rising much faster than those of other high-income countries for decades.  What the budget hawks are basically telling us is that we must assume that insurance and pharmaceutical companies will have a veto over the provisions of health care reform for decades to come.  And that therefore we must find other ways to make up for these excessive costs, including cutting Social Security and other government spending, and pushing us into higher rates of poverty and inequality than we already have."  Click here to access the full piece: The Economic Idiocy of Economists

Nancy Folbre on Women, Work and Welfare

Nancy Folbre, economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is a frequent contributor to Economix, a New York Times daily blog.  Two recent posts are noteworthy for their relevance to Caring Economics.

In the first, Folbre observes that income inequality along gender lines has persisted over the past 20 years despite gains for women in other areas of social and political life.  Additionally, class disparities among working women as a whole have intensified, with highly educated women enjoying improved access to employment benefits such as paid leave and flexible work arrangements, while women in low-skilled, low-income jobs have seen their benefits shrink:  Feminism's Uneven Success

The second provides an analysis of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF was created to provide temporary relief during hard economic times.  Unlike other social programs such as food stamps, TANF has been unresponsive to the prolonged unemployment that has characterized the current recession.  Folbre argues that the past social welfare reforms of the mid-1990s are long overdue for new, basic reforms that would bring America's social policies closer to those adopted by the rest of the industrialized world:  Welfare Reform Revisited

Thanks for helping us spread the word!

Hi Everyone,

We so appreciate your help with getting the word out about our program!  Here is a new flyer you can share and forward to others - all the better if you can accompany it with a personal note sharing your experience.

If you would like a .pdf version of the flyer to email out, send me an email:  contact@sarasaltee.com

Wishing you all a very happy and real-wealthy new year!

Cheers,
Sara

What America can learn from Nordic education policies

Hello, CLIC subscribers!  Apologies for the long delay between postings - we're back in action now and gearing up for an exciting next group of Cohorts.  If you haven't already, please let your friends and colleagues know about the Caring Economics Leadership Program.  We are currently accepting applications for Cohorts H-M.  For more information, click here:  Hungry for a new conversation!

During the next few months, in addition to sharing resources, we will be reporting on some of the many creative and compelling practicum experiences of our most recent graduates, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, Micki Reese (Cohort E) forwarded this link to an excellent recent article in The Atlantic about equality in Finnish schools and lessons learned.  Thanks so much for sharing, Micki!

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success