{"product_id":"the-body-economic-why-austerity-kills-9780465063987","title":"The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills","description":"\u003cp\u003ePoliticians have talked endlessly about the seismic economic and social impacts of the recent financial crisis  but many continue to ignore its disastrous effects on human healthand have even exacerbated them  by adopting harsh austerity measures and cutting key social programs at a time when constituents need them most. The result  as pioneering public health experts David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu reveal in this provocative book  is that many countries have turned their recessions into veritable epidemics  ruining or extinguishing thousands of lives in a misguided attempt to balance budgets and shore up financial markets. Yet sound alternative policies could instead help improve economies and protect public health at the same time.  In The Body Economic  Stuckler and Basu mine data from around the globe and throughout history to show how government policy becomes a matter of life and death during financial crises. In a series of historical case studies stretching from 1930s America  to Russia and Indonesia in the 1990s  to present-day Greece  Britain  Spain  and the U.S.  Stuckler and Basu reveal that governmental mismanagement of financial strife has resulted in a grim array of human tragedies  from suicides to HIV infections. Yet people can and do stay healthy  and even get healthier  during downturns. During the Great Depression  U.S. deaths actually plummeted  and today Iceland  Norway  and Japan are happier and healthier than ever  proof that public wellbeing need not be sacrificed for fiscal health.  Full of shocking and counterintuitive revelations and bold policy recommendations  The Body Economic offers an alternative to austerityone that will prevent widespread suffering  both now and in the future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648175595573,"sku":"ByrdShop_0465063985","price":26.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780465063987.jpg?v=1781711710","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-body-economic-why-austerity-kills-9780465063987","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}