Nicholas Kristof: Here’s your chance to spend $5.7 billion

Choose wisely! View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, February 6, 2019 [NYTimes.com/Kristof »]( [Here’s our own toy wall, which may be as real as Trump’s will ever be.]( Here’s our own toy wall, which may be as real as Trump’s will ever be. Stuart Thompson Is a border wall really the best use of $5.7 billion if we want to improve the wellbeing of Americans? Probably not. With colleagues here at The New York Times, I crafted [a digital tool]( that enables you to allocate the money more wisely. For example, just $250 million on anti-gang programs in Central America would significantly dampen the violence there, reducing the exit forces that lead people on a dangerous journey to the United States. Helping moms addicted to drugs (using a program that has succeeded in Tulsa, Okla.) would help save their lives, reduce crime and help turn them into taxpayers — plus have a huge benefit to their children. I figured out how [I would spend the $5.7 billion]( to get the most benefit, and you can [use the calculator]( (designed by the amazing Stuart Thompson) to figure out how you would spend the money. You can use it on the wall or on many other purposes. [Try it!]( President Trump’s references to criminal justice reform, ending AIDS in the United States and reducing drug prices were welcome in the State of the Union. But as I explained in [this Facebook Live]( overall I was unimpressed. And I was offended by the way he tried to seize on sex trafficking to make a case for his wall. If he were serious about fighting sex trafficking, he would tell the Justice Department to more aggressively prosecute pimps. One genuine area of bipartisan progress, along with criminal justice reform, has been early childhood programs. Both sides increasingly recognize the evidence that the first 1,000 days of life are critical for brain development, and that it’s important to reduce “toxic stress” in this period as well as to provide good pre-k afterward. Head Start used to be a big program that wasn’t very good, but now it is [genuinely improving quality]( — and that’s very important to America’s future. The person who actually helps me put this newsletter together — and makes sure that it’s coherent and that I haven’t said anything (too) wild is Zoe Greenberg. She had an important story the other day about [low-income Americans selling blood plasma]( (up to 104 times a year!) to survive. It was a searing glimpse at the “other America.” Now here’s my column? No. essay? No. Digital tool? whatever-you-want-to-call-it about how to spend money more effectively to make Americans better off. And for those of you wondering how you can leverage your own charitable donations more effectively, there are some great programs on the list. [Check it out and spend $5.7 billion wisely]( Good News One disease never gets adequate resources or attention: sickle cell. Some 100,000 Americans have it, and 300,000 people worldwide are born with it each year. They suffer chronic pain and often die early, yet there has been little effort to address it because for genetic reasons it’s disproportionately Africans (and, in the U.S., African-Americans) who suffer from it. Now, finally, [there is progress]( with several important efforts at gene therapy that in some people have caused the disease to disappear completely. ADVERTISEMENT You can connect with me on [Facebook](. If you have friends who might enjoy this newsletter, forward this email or tell them they can [sign up here](. Send feedback or tech questions to newsletters@nytimes.com. Recent Columns [She Wanted to Drive, So Saudi Arabia’s Ruler Imprisoned and Tortured Her]( The U.S. should pressure Saudis to respect the human rights of outspoken women. Revolution 60 [The Embargo on Cuba Failed. Let’s Move On.]( No one, particularly ordinary Cubans, is benefiting from the 60-year feud. What I’m Reading in The Times [Venezuela’s Crisis Spreads Beyond Its Borders]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The citizens of Venezuela have become pawns in a global power game. They need a peaceful and rapid resolution to the crisis. news analysis [What Is the Blood of a Poor Person Worth?]( By ZOE GREENBERG Desperate people can make $30 donating plasma, up to 104 times a year, in this $20 billion industry. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NICHOLAS KRISTOF [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nickkristof]( [Instagram] [nickkristof]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Nicholas Kristof newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2019 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018