It's all about Mom?
Health in the womb may influence one’s life fortunes more than anything else, including schooling, argues DOUGLAS ALMOND of Columbia University in the Journal of Political Economy. Almond started with data from the 1918 flu pandemic, then traced socioeconomic outcomes for those exposed in utero. “The findings indicate that racial disparities in adult health and economic status could be reduced by targeting early-life health of black infants,” the journal declares. For the original article, contact Suzanne Wu at swu@press.uchicago.edu.