Tag: COVID-19

COVID’s hidden victim: economic freedom

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Sept. 8, Robert Lawson, Fullinwider Chair in Economic Freedom at the SMU  Dallas Cox School of Business, for a piece measuring the impact of the pandemic on  economic freedom indicators. Published in the Orange County Register under the heading COVID’s hidden victim: economic freedom: https://bit.ly/3qmJooL

The COVID-19 pandemic swept over the planet in early 2020, resulting in more than a million deaths in the United States and many millions more around the world. Unfortunately, these lives weren’t the only casualties. The pandemic also walloped economic freedom – that is, our freedoms to buy, sell, move, hire, fire, invest and earn income and keep it.

Economic freedom took a big hit in the global financial crisis of 2007-09 – but this time the blow was three times worse. The potential impacts of economic freedom’s decline range from lower incomes and greater poverty to shorter life expectancies, fewer years of schooling, and less overall happiness.

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Contact tracing can stop COVID-19 — only if Americans allow government access to personal data

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Aug. 25, Jo Guldi and Macabe Keliher, history professors at SMU Dallas, for a piece advocating that the U.S. emulate Taiwan by devising a way for the government to access location data to alert citizens during emergencies or during efforts to mitigate infection spread during a pandemic. Published in The Hill and MSN: https://bit.ly/2QqGptt https://bit.ly/34A65w8

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Most Americans await a vaccine to end the pandemic and get us back to work. But the drama about vaccines and masks has obscured a practical answer to ending the pandemic that has already worked in other parts of the world, and which could end the pandemic across the U.S. in only a month, at minimal cost: contact tracing. Contact tracing means entrusting government representatives or corporations with intimate data about individuals’ locations and creating a potentially sensitive repository of information about citizens. That data can save lives — but it will only come into being if Americans trust the system for managing that data. 

American cities and states have mainly opted to avoid contact tracing and the shortcut out of the pandemic that it offers. The ostensible reason offered is American’s concern about data privacy, which is both legitimate and important. . .

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No Hugging? No Touching? Hang Signs To Show Where Hearts Are

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May 5, Nancy George, associate director of media relations at SMU Dallas, for a  column capturing how sequestered DFW neighbors still manage to communicate with paper hearts in their windows during the pandemic. Published in PeopleNewspapers: https://bit.ly/3b8yt89

Last fall, red paper hearts began appearing in windows of houses in my neighborhood, until nearly half the homes in my tidy tree-lined enclave sported them.

Nancy George. (Photo: Hillsman Jackson)
Nancy George. (Photo: Hillsman Jackson)

Initially, I thought the hearts were part of a school project, but I learned the hearts represented something much more serious.

They were a way of showing love to a family who lost a toddler to an illness that unexpectedly took his life.

The red hearts continue to adorn the windows, but they bring support to many of us who don’t know this family. They remind us of the value of community, the importance of pulling together in tragedy, and they serve as a visible sign that we live among neighbors who care for one another. . .

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Reopening the Economy Quickly Endangers Health Care Workers Like Our Parents

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Haley Taylor Schlitz, left, an SMU law school student, and Taylor Richardson are concerned for their parents, both physicians, during the pandemic.

April 28, SMU Dedman School of Law Student Haley Taylor Schlitz (and co-author Taylor Richardson ???), for an op-ed critical of decisions to “open up for business” too early in certain states because that could cause a spike in COVID-19 cases and endanger health care workers, such as their parents. Published in Teen Vogue: https://bit.ly/2xdDgam

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Throughout the history of our nation, Americans have faced many crises. From pandemics to world wars, these events have helped us pull together and demonstrate our full potential as a nation. During these times as brave Americans went off to fight for our safety, we also had a strong foundation of support that would be known as the home front. The COVID-19 crisis is no different. Once again we have a true home front of American families who get up each day to support their loved ones as they go off to work as physicians, nurses, health care techs, postal workers, grocery store workers, firefighters, EMTs, truck drivers, food service workers, custodians, sanitation workers, and so many more.

As children of health care workers, we are doing our best to be part of a strong front that starts within the walls of our own homes. We are not alone in this fight. Our family members and many of our friends are traversing the same stressful roller coaster of emotions each day as we watch our loved ones venture off to help keep our communities safe, healthy, and fed. . .

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How parents can avoid turning shelter-at-home into Camp Chaos

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March 26, George Holden, Professor of Psychology and Chair of the SMU Department of Psychology, for a piece advocating the best parenting strategies during the long days of shelter-in-place. His co-author is wife Anne Cameron. Published in the Dallas Morning News: https://bit.ly/2y5KaOZ

With the order to shelter-in-place, parents find themselves in uncharted child-rearing territory. There are no research studies, no manuals, no time-proven useful nuggets of advice. Instead, parents must rely on their own ingenuity, creativity and sensibility to forge the way forward.

Families are now into the second week of confinement, trying to work at home while managing children and worrying. The following are some tools to help navigate this strange new world we find ourselves in. . .

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