The Huffington Post – Ajay Chaudry and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
“The American economy faces some significant challenges in the 21st Century. That is certain. Trump’s diagnosis repeated again and again on the campaign trail —America has lost its competitive edge in the global economy— took hold, but this rhetoric failed to identify one of the root causes and advanced the wrong approach for a more prosperous future. Half of American children today are not equipped to be successful in the world economy when they grow up, compared to peer countries that reach 100 percent with comprehensive early childhood development policies. A large number of countries have integrated early childhood policies for children from prenatal to school entry, across health, nutrition, and education. The United States is richer than all of these but lacks a coordinated approach, and fails to invest in these critical services which pay off long-term benefits.”(more)