Given the sudden and unexpected cuts to various federal agencies, including the Health and Human Services (HHS,) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA,) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC,) there is concern about the future of medical research, disease surveillance programs, preventive public health, and other health programs given these deep cuts. Indeed the new federal budget that just passed the House, there are massive cuts to the NIH and other health institutions.
In this article for Fast Company, I discuss the importance of protecting our current institutions as they have had a lot to do with our progress over the last 80 years and have been drivers for the rise in overall prosperity and life expectancy. While significant policy adjustments are in order to address the rising income and wealth inequality and the discontent of the large swaths of the population who feel left behind, cutting funding or dismantling the pillars of our system will lead to even worse outcomes for millions of people.
From the article:
“This system, developed largely by the U.S. and its allies, has been based on a set of rules for trade and commerce conceived at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. They created a fixed currency exchange system and international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These entities were designed to promote economic cooperation and stability.
In this system, the dollar has been the dominant reserve currency, English the de facto international language, and the US a stalwart of economic stability. Under this system, the world has experienced strong economic growth and increased prosperity. The world GDP by 1960 was less than $1.5 trillion, but today it’s over $106 trillion!”
