• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

From the Government

How Governments Have Made Us Healthier, Wealthier, and Better Educated and Made Our Lives Safer and Fairer

How Governments Have Made Us
Healthier, Wealthier, and Better Educated
and Made Our Lives Safer and Fairer

  • About
  • Archive
  • Contact

Public health

Cleaner Air and Cleaner Water

February 20, 2021 by Otis 1 Comment

Air and water quality are not where they should be in America, and we have not yet halted climate change. But the air in our cities is much clearer than it was 50 years ago, dangerous chemicals have been eliminated, and urban rivers no longer catch on fire. For these things, we can thank government and learn how it accomplished these things.

Filed Under: Federal government, Federalism, State governments Tagged With: 1964-72, Cities, Collaboration, Externalities, Healthier, Public health

Human Genome Project

January 23, 2021 by Otis 1 Comment

A scientific breakthrough occurred in 2003. It was the mapping of the human genome, which is creating medical advances that will touch every human on earth. The indispensable partner in this great discovery was the federal government. What did the government ask in return? You may be surprised to learn. And delighted.

Filed Under: Federal government Tagged With: Better educated, Collaboration, Germ theory, Health care, Healthier, Public health

Sidewalks and Trails

January 16, 2021 by Otis 1 Comment

Sidewalks were invented in big cities in the 1800s as a way of separating people from the filth of streets. They found a second use in the 20th century as a way of separating pedestrians from automobiles. After World War II, sidewalks declined in popularity, only to rise again in recent decades along with urban trails. Throughout, governments have been the key to pedestrian access.

Filed Under: Local governments, Urbanism Tagged With: Cities, Externalities, Germ theory, Healthier, Late 1800s, Public health, Public safety, Safer, Transportation

Farmers Markets

December 19, 2020 by Otis 1 Comment

Farmers markets have caught on in big cities since the 1970s, and a major reason is that governments have subsidized and facilitated their growth. Why? Because farmers markets create “positive externalities,” benefits that are much greater than their costs. They bring neighborhoods together, improve health, and make city life more affordable and enjoyable. And they’re another way government improves our lives.

Filed Under: Local governments Tagged With: Collaboration, Externalities, Healthier, Public health, Wealthier

Public Hospitals

September 5, 2020 by Otis Leave a Comment

Cities created public hospitals in the early 1800s as places the poor went to die. In the late 1800s, their roles changed dramatically as the practice of medicine changed. Since then, other kinds of hospitals have emerged, but large public hospitals still play essential roles as caregivers for the poor, centers for advanced trauma care, and providers of public services like poison-control centers. Let’s hope you never need the care these hospitals provide. But if you do, you can thank government for making them available.

Filed Under: Local governments, Urbanism Tagged With: Fairer, Germ theory, Health care, Healthier, Late 1800s, Public health

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Tags

1930s 1964-72 Better educated Children Cities Civil War Collaboration Economic development Education Elderly Energy Externalities Fairer Franklin Roosevelt Germ theory Health care Healthier Higher education Home ownership Late 1800s Lyndon Johnson Market failure National defense Parks Public health Public safety Public schools Public works Safer Tourism Transportation Wealthier

Recent Posts

  • Public Television and Radio
  • The Internet
  • Cooperative Extension
  • Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings
  • The Census
  • Cleaner Air and Cleaner Water
  • Appliance Energy Standards
  • Minimum Wage
  • Unemployment Insurance
  • Human Genome Project
  • Sidewalks and Trails
  • Disaster Relief
  • Americans with Disabilities Act
  • Civil Rights and Voting Rights
  • Farmers Markets
  • Vocational Education
  • Public Libraries
  • Building Codes and Inspections
  • Elevator Inspections
  • National Defense
  • Driver’s Licenses
  • Public Transit
  • Streets and Roads
  • Honest Markets and Sound Banks
  • Rural Electrification and Rural Broadband
  • Interstate Transportation
  • Medicare
  • Social Security
  • Playgrounds and Recreation
  • Public Hospitals
  • Public Schools
  • The Courts
  • Police and Public Safety
  • Fire Safety and Prevention
  • Clean Drinking Water
  • Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Waste Disposal
  • Public Health and Disease Control
  • State and National Parks
  • City Parks
  • Waste Disposal and Public Sanitation
  • State Colleges and Universities
  • 30-Year Mortgage

Copyright © 2021 ยท Log in