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Cato Daily Dispatch for December 29, 2004

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Greater Use of DDT Could Control Malaria

"A blight that has been all but eliminated in the West, malaria still claims between one million and two million lives every year in the underdeveloped world. ... The bigger problem is the politicized international health agencies that discourage the employment of all available tools of prevention -- specifically insecticides containing DDT that is anathema to environmentalists," according to a Wall Street Journal editorial.

"Bed nets and preventive medicines play important roles, but spraying homes with pesticides is vital. Use of DDT, developed during World War II and the main reason that America and Europe no longer harbor malarial mosquitoes, has been most successful in containing the disease. Still, influential groups like the U.S. Agency for International Development want DDT left out of malaria-control efforts."

In the Cato Policy Analysis "South Africa's War against Malaria: Lessons for the Developing World," Richard Tren and Roger Bate argue: "Because of DDT's continuing effectiveness and the need to rotate insecticides to prevent insect resistance, many countries still rely on DDT for malaria control. When countries bow to international pressure and stop using DDT, the effects can be disastrous. Malaria control programs, therefore, must use indoor residual spraying of DDT to reduce the overall disease burden, so that countries can afford to purchase expensive, but effective, new drugs to treat the remaining cases."

CBO: Raising Payroll Taxes for Social Security Would Curb Economic Growth

A Congressional Budget Office assessment of a Brookings Institution Social Security plan found it would raise payroll taxes and cut retirees' benefits in order to keep the program solvent, as well as reduce further economic growth, Congressional Quarterly reports.

"The CBO said that under [a separate] personal accounts plan Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) asked it to analyze, on the other hand, GDP would be about 0.5 percent more in 2025 and 3 percent to 4 percent more in 2080 than if Social Security is not changed."

Michael Tanner, director of Cato's Project on Social Security Choice, is the author of "The 6.2 Percent Solution: A Plan for Reforming Social Security." His plan would enable individuals to privately invest their half (6.2 percentage points) of their payroll tax through individual accounts. The remaining 6.2 percentage points of payroll taxes will be used to pay transition costs and to fund disability and survivors benefits."

Bill Holds Promise for Guest Worker Program

"President Bush, who revived his promise of immigration reform last January, has never released any real details, and the White House has not put forward a reform bill. Fortunately, Bush and his staff do not have to start from scratch. Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican, has been working on a promising bill with two Republican representatives, Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, also from Arizona," according to a New York Times editorial.

"The Arizona bill is a comprehensive one, designed to help control the nation's borders while providing a work force for many jobs Americans can't or won't fill. The bill would not grant amnesty, but it would establish a guest-worker program that would let participants apply eventually for legal status, without jumping ahead of other applicants."

In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship, Daniel Griswold, director of Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies, said: "Indeed, legalizing and regularizing the movement of workers across the U.S.-Mexican border could enhance our national security by bringing much of the underground labor market into the open, encouraging newly documented workers to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials, and freeing resources for border security and the war on terrorism."

Jonathan Block, editor, jblock@cato.org