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IN BREAKOUT GROUPS Answer on google slides

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IN BREAKOUT GROUPS Answer on google slides

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1. What relationship would we expect between these two and why?
- I would expect economic growth to increase make a decrease in unemployment because as the economy increases more jobs are created as well, leading to more people being hired.

2. What do you call someone who wants a job (and is physically, legally and mentally capable of working) but can’t find one?
- Unemployed

3. Does our expectations about this link between growth and unemployment correspond to the correlations in the real world?
-

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1. According to Denise Goulet, there are 3 things necessary for development (being arguably a ‘’better’ life for all) which are…..*

Life sustenance (basics need for survival like food, etc) Self-esteem (self-love), Freedom (make choices)

1. Growth might help each one..how?

To expand our freedom in order to enjoy more things in life.

*Amartya Sen expanded on the concept of ''development as freedom'' in his award winning book.

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What comparisons can the growth data below help us show? 

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What comparisons can the growth data below help us show? 

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growth data can a) help with comparisons about people's lives OVER [      ] AND [   ] and b) show that over the very long term economic growth in the past has dramatically improved [                ]

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INDIVIDUAL TASK write 1 SHORT PARAGRAPH highlighting the main benefits of measuring economic growth.

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INDIVIDUAL TASK write 1 SHORT PARAGRAPH highlighting the main benefits of measuring economic growth.

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1. What does the graph below show about the correlation between rising personal income and rising personal happiness, according to Justin Wolfers' research in the US?

This shows a direct correlation between the rising of personal income and the rising of personal happiness. This shows that the increase in one consequently increases the other.

2. What is the assumption behind an assertion, that the statistics above infer that all a country needs to do to have happier citizens is to increase economic growth/national income?

That its not necessarily true that increasing the citizens income will have a direct effect on their happiness.

3. Is this always realistic? Why not? How does the evidence in the following video help to build a counter claim/evaluation to this argument here?

This is not always realistic, it depends on the circumstances the whole country finds itself in. Nevertheless, with the evidence from the video below we can identify that in this particular case it happened to be that the rise in income rose the happiness of its citizens

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We need growth data to know where we are in the economic cycle. If there's a problem with economic growth (either too little to too much) the government might want to step in to try to solve the problem. There are 2 main ways it can do this which we will look at in detail in a short while in the course - monetary policy and fiscal policy.

Q1 Basically, when economic growth is weak the government might want to try to increase it. Think back to the injections into the circular flow of income. Which one(s) might it try to influence?

Q2 When economic growth is too strong the government might want to try to slow it down. Why?

Q3 Think about the leakages from the circular flow of income. Which leakage might it try to influence?

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IN BREAKOUT GROUPS Answer on google slides

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IN BREAKOUT GROUPS Answer on google slides

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Use the  2 textbook resource below (or your own prior knowledge based on our previous classes)

1. What is the most well known way of describing ‘national income’’?

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4. Describe differences in unemployment between the pandemic and the great recession of 2008/09 in the US.
- Covid had a much higher rate of unemployment
- The increase was sort of gradual, while

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Would you rather:

A. Live in 1900 and make $70,000 a year.

or

B. Live today and make $70,000 a year.

If you choose A., you get to be super rich; your income is roughly equal to $700,000 today. You get a mansion, servants, the whole deal.

Choice B. means you aren't rich, but you're not poor — and you don't have to worry about being crippled by polio, or killed when a cut on your foot gets infected. You also get cable TV and air conditioning.

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Amartya Sen (Honorary Fellow, All Soul's College, Oxford University)

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1. Find out what's Brad Pitt's next line.

2. Give at least 2 reasons why we might expect this correlation.ie why does unemployment matter?

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Now go to gapminder.org (or another relevance source) and research 3 things about China

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Now go to gapminder.org (or another relevance source) and research 3 things about China

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1. The % change in economic growth there from 1990 to 2019
1990: GDP per capita - 1,420
2019: GDP per capita - 16.1K

2. The change in life expectancy
1990:  68.7
2019:  77.5

3. The change in secondary school enrollment.
1990: 69.4 %
2007: 91.7 %
Do any positive correlations exist? Explain these. Might you draw any inferences from this in relation to the link between growth and development?

Yes as more the economy grew (which is reasonable as the are more people) development increases as it is proven on the school enrollment

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This is a moving personal account of a young single mother's struggles as a result of not having a job

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This is a moving personal account of a young single mother's struggles as a result of not having a job

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Extension Some extra data on unemployment for context

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Extension Some extra data on unemployment for context

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3. Skim this article in no more than 1 minute. List one negative consequence of unemployment described in the article.
- Happiness decrease
- Loss of insurance

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A failure to reinstate enhanced federal unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums could contribute to a a wave of despair, drug overdoses and suicides among Americans, amid mounting fears about the long-term toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

Suicides have been rising in the US over the past two decades, with 132 people every day on average ending their lives in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Overall, it is the 10th leading cause of death, with the highest rates among middle-aged white men and rural dwellers.

Suicide is always complex. Risk factors include untreated mental health problems, substance misuse, access to lethal methods, previous attempts, isolation, past abuse, physical health problems, long-term unemployment and hopelessness.

Protective factors include access to mental health services, family and community support, and strong religious or spiritual beliefs that discourage suicide.

But now Covid-19 has upended almost every aspect of normal life for many people, resulting in an increase in multiple suicide risk factors while also weakening some of the protective ones.

"The pandemic has already generated a combination of factors associated with increased risk, including economic recession, access to firearms, and a generalized sense of anxiety and depression. I would not be surprised if this leads to an increase in suicide deaths," said Jonathan Singer, president of the American Association of Suicidology and associate professor of social work at Loyola University in Chicago.

In addition, emerging evidence suggests that some Covid-19 survivors may experience mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD as part of a myriad of long-term consequences.

But the situation could get worse, according to Singer, as a moratorium on evictions and enhanced unemployment benefits had until now acted as a buffer. "In the next six months I think we'll see a dramatic increase in suicide deaths, or at least despair," Singer said.

There is precedent for that dire outlook. In the aftermath of the 2007 recession in North America and Europe, about 10,000 more people,mostly middle-aged and older men, died by suicide than expected in a two-year span.

Before the pandemic, almost 4 million evictions were filed annually, and one in four renters paid over half their pre-tax income to landlords, while almost 200,000 people slept in their cars, on streets or in abandoned buildings. Now, unemployment is above 10%, the federal enhanced unemployment benefit has expired amid partisan wrangling and tens of millions of families face the threat of eviction.

"Losing your home takes away an important protective factor and may lead to family splits. It increases suicide risk, no question about it," said Steve Moore, co-chair of the Illinois chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

"Hope is the best protective factor ... losing hope is a big problem."

The full mental health impact of the pandemic won't be fully understood for several years because of a data lag, but there is some cause for concern.

At least 35 states have reported a rise in fatal opioid overdoses during the pandemic, with powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine increasingly implicated, according to the American Medical Association. Access to harm reduction and life-saving medical services has been curtailed due to physical distancing requirements and pressure of emergency rooms.

"This epidemic caused 70,000 deaths last year, and it's far from over," said Dr Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (Nami).

In Cook county, Illinois, the medical examiner last week reported 58 suicide deaths so far in 2020 - compared with a total of 56 for all of the previous year. The deaths overwhelmingly occurred in Chicago's predominantly poor black neighborhoods - which have also disproportionately borne the brunt of Covid-19 deaths, job losses and a rise in fatal gun violence. The biggest suicide surges were among black men and younger people under the age of 30, including a nine-year-old boy in July.

"It is not surprising that the communities that have suffered the most are the ones who have the least. Disinvestment, red lining and systemic racism have culminated in a crisis that once again hits the African American community hardest," said Toni Preckwinkle, president of the county board.

Banners are displayed on a building in Washington DC on 9 August. Photograph: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images

In 2012, the then Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, shut down half the city's mental health clinics, a widely condemned policy move that disproportionately affected low income African American communities.

An uptick in suicides has also been reported by health officials in Fresno, California; Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Dougherty county, Georgia. Meanwhile, some states, including Idaho and Colorado, have reported a drop.

Experts say that while every suicide is a tragedy, it is too early to draw conclusions about trends.

Nevertheless, even before coronavirus, the suicide rate in the US increased by 35% over the past two decades, bucking a downward trend in peer countries like the UK.

Important country-specific factors that could also affect the Covid fallout include easier access to firearms. Americans own more guns than any other nation, and states with few restrictions, such as Wyoming, Alaska, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and Utah, also have the highest suicide rates.

Owning a handgun vastly increases a person's risk of suicide, according to a study recently published in the New England Medical Journal. Gun sales have soared during the pandemic.

Access to mental health services in the US is also woefully inadequate. In 2017, only two-fifths of people suffering from mental illness received services, and access was significantly lower for black and brown people. Then, almost 28m people did not have health insurance. Another 5.4m adults lost their jobs and insurance between February and June.

"The US doesn't have a social safety net, like many countries in Europe. Instead we have the American myth of rugged individualism - that if you work hard enough you'll achieve what you want in life, and if you don't, it's because of a personal failure," said Singer.

According to the census bureau's latest coronavirus household pulse survey, half of all adults - 105 million - reported feeling down, depressed or hopeless on at least several days during the previous week. Meanwhile, 11%, or 23 million, had relied on unemployment benefits to cover living expenses.

On the plus side, teletherapy may have helped close the gap during the pandemic, after Medicare changed its policies to include most telehealth, and many private insurers followed suit.

But many distressed people still fall through the gap.

Rebecca Henderson works with the Crisis Center in Birmingham, Alabama, part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network.

In one recent call, Henderson counseled a single unemployed woman with two young children and limited social support who was feeling increasingly despondent about the future. In another call, an unemployed man in his 30s was starting to panic as he could not find work and the federal unemployment benefit had ended.

"I can help keep someone safe for now, but there are not enough resources and services for people. Honestly, this could get worse in two or three weeks when the evictions start and unemployment isn't renewed, a lot worse," said Henderson.

Alabama is one of 15 states to refuse federal funding to expand Medicaid, denying as many as 324,000 people healthcare and contributing to dozens of avoidable hospital closures.

Henderson added: "The pandemic has exposed our crumbling mental health system, and the biggest struggle in doing this work is knowing that we're putting a bandaid over a gaping hole."

In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255, or you can text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org

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End to US unemployment protections could fuel wave of despair and suicides

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A failure to reinstate enhanced federal unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums could contribute to a a wave of despair, drug overdoses and suicides among Americans, amid mounting fears about the long-term toll of the coronavirus pandemic.