TO THE EDITOR:
You’ve likely heard the popular saying: “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
You may also be familiar with the lines from Matthew 13:12: “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.”
Indeed, modern research increasingly shows that health inequalities at birth correlated with economic background can predict adult wealth or poverty.
Whether you first encountered these ideas at a protest rally, in the Bible, or studying for an economics exam, hopefully they provoked you. Regardless of your politics, confronting the self-perpetuating nature of poverty ought to disturb you.
To help lead interested Carolina students in thoughtful conversation toward understanding the reasons such social forces, Phi Beta Kappa has invited Dr. Janet Currie, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and the director of Princeton’s Center for Health and Well Being, to our campus.
Dr. Currie’s current research focuses on socioeconomic differences in child health and on environmental threats to children’s health from sources such as toxic pollutants.
Dr. Currie will deliver a lecture on “Inequality at Birth: Some Causes and Consequences” on Oct. 4 in the University Room, Hyde Hall. All interested undergraduate students are welcome. Please plan to arrive at 6:30 p.m. for a catered reception.
In addition to her lecture, she will be visiting a public policy course and speaking at the Carolina Population Center weekly colloquium during her visit.
