scientists Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir call this “the bandwidthtax.” “Being poor,” they write, “reduces a person’s cognitive capacity morethan going a full night without sleep.” When we are preoccupied bypoverty, “we have less mind to give to the rest of life.” Poverty does not justdeprive people of security and comfort; it siphons off their brainpower, too.