This should be worth another half-trillion on the “stimulus” bill:
Inequality Is Bad For Your Health
A new international report reveals that mental health problems are far worse in ‘rich’ nations, such as the UK, that are socially unequal… The report, carried out by the WHO for the Mental Health Foundation, looked at recent research across a range of disciplines. It argues that only radical and broad policy changes will counter directly the trend of growing inequality…
“There is overwhelming evidence that inequality is a key cause of stress, and also exacerbates the stress of coping with material deprivation,” the report says. “The adverse impact of stress is greater in societies where greater inequality exists and where some people feel worse off than others. We will have to face up to the fact that individual and collective mental health and wellbeing will depend on reducing the gap between rich and poor.”
Well, you can’t say the Dow hasn’t done its bit to help in the last few months.