Radio Smart Talk: NPR Business Editor Marilyn Geewax on sequester; Diet and sleep linked?

Radio Smart Talk for Thursday, March 7:

So, what are we to make of the sequester? Dire predictions were made about the impact the $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts would have once they went into effect last Friday. Less than a week later, the furor seems to have died down.

Congressional Republicans and President Obama are still blaming one another for not taking action to avoid the cuts. However, there doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency to stop the spending cuts and to work out a deal.

The public doesn’t appear to be up in arms either. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found Americans support the spending cuts by a 61-33% margin. But they oppose the cuts in military spending.

This is even after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said sequestration would mean the loss of 750,000 jobs. Some have suggested it would slow the economy down enough to send the nation back into recession.

Instead, the Dow Jones Industrial Average set an all-time high this week. Who would have predicted that?

On Thursday’s Radio Smart Talk, we’ll get some insight from Marolyn Geewax, NPR’s Senior Business Editor.

Also, a recent study at the University of Pennsylvania shows a link, although not a clear one, between sleep and diet. Joining us to discuss the findings will be Dr. Michael Grandner, a member of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program, the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology, and an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Penn.

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