Stunted lives, stagnant economies : poverty, disease, and underdevelopment /

Offering the perspective of an economist, Stillwaggon gives new meaning to the phrase "diseases of the poor." Any standard reference or text on health economics considers the special circumstances of the poor in the context of developing economies in which substandard housing, lack of access to health care services and facilities, poor nutrition, hazardous environmental conditions, failure of the regulatory role of government, inadequate or unsafe water supply, poor sanitation, and badly developed infrastructure become the rule. The author extends this standard reference to current conditions in Argentina with rich detail. She cites examples of the effects of these conditions on the poor, including declines in work performance and productivity, and the creation of cycles of diseases in future generations of children that retard physical and mental development. This study will interest students and scholars in anthropology, economics, sociology, political economy, and interdisciplinary studies in health, poverty, public planning, and development. This is an excellent institutional review and description of conditions that are bound to retard development in Argentina and other developing areas. There is attention to economic causes and solutions; however, this is not a treatise on theory. Recommended for upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. F. W. Musgrave Ithaca College