Summary: While people planned socially distanced funerals and waited in miles-long lines for canned food, the stock market soared and brought the GDP with it. The pandemic has revealed that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a poor measure of economic and societal health. Stephen Macekura’s new book, The Mismeasure of Progress, explores GDP and the long history of those who have critiqued it. And: The 2008 financial crisis scared investors. So they parked their money in huge land grabs for farms that would ideally prevent future food shortages in the United States. Bikrum Gill says the effort did more harm than good. Later in the show: There’s an eviction crisis in the United States, and it’s disproportionately affecting communities of color. Kathryn Howell and Ben Teresa are part of the RVA Eviction Lab which gathers data on eviction rates. They say high eviction rates destabilize communities, cause high turnover in student populations, and reduce community engagement and access to community networks and jobs. Plus: People who live on or near American Indian reservations are being denied access to consumer credit. Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl says redlining is a factor. Dimitrova-Grajzl has been named a 2019 outstanding faculty member by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
