Dying for growth:

Is economic "growth" killing the poor? The Institute for Health and Social Justice brings us the answers in Dying for Growth. An extraordinary collection of fourteen hard-hitting case studies from Haiti to the US, Dying for Growth exposes the interests behind a system that consigns a fifth of the world's population to live (and die) on less than a dollar a day. Rooted in the lives of people waging heart-wrenching struggles against a new, systemic form of poverty, these studies don't just document inequality -- they pinpoint its underlying causes.Looking at the effects of international restructuring strategies on the poor, the increasing control trans-national corporations exert over world health, and the impact of U.S. drug policy on global inequality, Dying for Growth debunks the myths of global capitalism, including: Myth: Throwing loans at developing nations will cure poverty.Fact: As shown in "Sickness Amidst Recovery: Public Debt and Private Suffering in a Peruvian Shanty Town", loans can make things worse.Myth: Getting rid of big government automatically improves the standard of living.Fact: Cutting services can lead to calamity, as detailed in "Neoliberal Economic Policy, State Desertion and the Russian Health Crisis". Myth: The free market is a panacea.Fact: There's nothing liberating about modern capitalism, as demonstrated in "'Todo Bajo Control': The Costs of 'Free' Trade to Mexican Maquiladora Workers".Dying for Growth concludes with an extensive section on alternatives to standard models. Included is a chapter on health and revolution in Cuba, "The Threat of a Good Example", and a plan for action, "Pragmatic Solidarity: What You Can Do".With passionrarely found in works of comparable analytic rigor, Dying for Growth tells the stories