Mon Jan 3 07:06:18 EST 2000
I am interested in a source comparing relative East and West
German pollution levels and the effect on health. There was a recent
article in the USA press indicating that the USA government estimated that
over 400,000 people in the USA get respiratory diseases annually as a
result of car pollution (and over 4000 die). While the percent of the
population here for that is fairly small (just over 0.15% and .0015%,
respectively), it is not a trivial number (and I wonder if the Trabants
could have ever achieved such damage levels, especially since there were
far fewer of them per capita-- there would have to be an extra 25,000 East
Germans sick, and 250 dead, per year to be comparable). And that of course
does not take into consideration all the worldwide skin cancer and eye
disease cases caused by USA airconditioning destroying the ozone layer.
At any rate some data like this comparing East and West Germany at
some point in time (like 1989) would be very interesting, including not
only car pollution but also factory pollution effects. If anyone knows of
a reference it would be greatly appreciated.
Dr. Austin Murphy (Professor of Finance, Oakland University, SBA,
Rochester, MI 48309-4493), email: jamurphy at oakland.edu
Tel.: 248-370-2125
P.S. In my more recent posting, I forgot to list a source of the
Deutsche Bank and DIW information on inflation and real economic growth
estimates for eastern Germany since 1989: Osmond's 1992 GERMAN
REUNIFICATION (along with the Statistisches Bundesamt has also published
similar statistics indicating double-digit prices increases in eastern Germany
since 1989 along with huge real output declines).