What health professionals might call social issues—eg, the economy, jobs, education—now dominate the national agenda. Families, businesses, and government are confronting a recession, unstable financial markets, unemployment, a housing crisis, environmental challenges, and other global threats. Sweeping corrective measures are under way to restore economic stability, maintain public services, and promote student and workforce education. Rarely, however, do proponents of these efforts note their connection to health, a nexus that is rarely their first concern or within their expertise.