Richard Steckel, Professor Emeritus, Economics, is co-author of a new study on the historical origins of cardiovascular disease in the American South. In the working paper, “Historical Origins of a Major Killer: Cardiovascular Disease in the American South,” (National Bureau of Economics Research Working Paper Series, December 2015) Steckel suggests that the current health disparities in the South developed as Southerners encountered a more prosperous lifestyle than their bodies were prepared for, including more food and less manual labor.