HERE'S A CHANGE, SOME GOOD NEWS

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! ~ Anne Frank

Quite honestly, the news I've been reading and seeing for quite a while has been pretty dark. Our economic doldrums continue; I've heard continuing, tragic stories about families suffering from long-term unemployment and lack of adequate access to affordable healthcare. Meanwhile the media gives excessive attention to the farcical, misguided and upsetting activities of certain political candidates – and their super-PACS – in the name of "balanced" political reporting. [As an aside, how can these candidates be so impervious to the reality we are now living?] Is there nothing decent and/or encouraging going on? Springtime isn't supposed to be this gloomy.

 I'm pleased to report some glimmers of light, in the form of good and hopeful news.

First, my interactions with students at the high school I work at several days a week are certainly up-lifting. Witnessing their energetic enthusiasm definitely brightens me up. Unfortunately, as I walk home, reality begins to dim the brightness a bit– mostly due to the clouded prognosis now being faced by all too many of their fellow Millennials as I discussed recently. But I remain hopeful that these young people can weather this storm with help from the rest of us.

Next, beyond the SF East Bay some significant positive news has managed to surface among the all too dark flotsam of conflicts and fiscal disasters. Given the media's proclivities for screaming "wolf" at every opportunity, it has been too easy to miss these additional positive pronouncements.

The good news deals with a distant slice of our world that has been in desperate need of it for a long time – the so-called "bottom billion" – the poorest, least-developed folks of the 7 billion now on the planet. The news relates to health advancements for people living in many developing nations. Two inter-related, basic measures of human health – average expected lifetime and child mortality – have improved in the recent past. This is very good news for everyone.

The average lifespan has improved significantly in many developing nations across the globe. These nations can gain from their citizens' increased productive availability. Libya's average lifespan increased to 77 years, just one year behind the US (not accounting for the probable detrimental effects of its "Arab Spring" events). The gains in life expectancy since 1980 have been highest in the Middle East and North Africa (12.2 years), South Asia had the second largest gain (9.6 years) and Latin America is third (8.1 years). According to Wikipedia, the world average life expectancy is 66.57 years. As a point of reference, estimated life expectancy at birth during the Upper Paleolithic age (roughly 40,000 years ago) was 33 years, about the same as life expectancy in 17^th century England. [It's a mystery to me how archaeologists can determine life expectancy in ancient times, but then they probably wonder how we economists calculate purchasing power parity and the velocity of money. So it goes.] These advances have occurred in spite of the modern-day scourge in Africa of HIV/AIDS that many people believe is akin to the 14^th century Plague that killed 30-60% of Europe's population.

There also have been impressive reductions in child mortality since 2005 across a number of African countries. This remarkable accomplishment was highlighted by the Economist in an article entitled, "The best story in development." Three nations – Senegal, Rwanda and Kenya – have reduced their rates of child mortality by more than 8% a year. These drops are the fastest seen anywhere over the past three decades, including China and India. A dozen other countries had declines greater than 4.4% per year. An important contributor to this good news is the growth of using insecticide-treated bed nets that cuts malaria infections. However, it's more than bed nets, according to the article; it's the combination of better health-related policies, better governance and new technology that are together improving (and lengthening) children's lives.

So, even though we live in unsettling times (when aren't they?), these positive advancements brighten my perspective. By remembering them, I can get back to being more optimistic and seeing the glass of present-day life as at least half-full. Hopefully, you might be able to as well.