The Economist: "Deaths of Despair"

White middle-aged men in developed countries, like the population as a whole, have enjoyed increasing life expectancy for many decades. Suddenly, around 1997, mortality rates for these average Joes started rising in the US while they continued declining in France, Germany, Canada, Britain, etc. Life expectancy for the US part of this group is now less than it was twenty years ago. Why? The Economist (article attached) posed the question in last week's issue but couldn't come up with any one answer, not even their old standby, global warming.

I would note, however, that this period of rising mortality corresponds with the period that NAFTA has been in force. (Coincidence? Perhaps.) But in any case, as Ross Perot was wont to say, "It's just plain sad."

The article ends on a hopeful note: "One avenue for reducing despair may lie in future generations of low-skilled Americans curbing their aspirations. Indeed, some of the jobless young already seem content to spend much of their leisure time playing video games. . . " This may solve the problem as the "jobless young" mature into a jobless but contented middle age, and alcohol, marijuana and other drugs may also help.

Encouraging decline in gun-related deaths in the USA

among suiciders, according to yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

Although the suicide rate among both men and women in the USA is rising rapidly, it is good news that fewer suicides are using guns. (for men from 61.7% in 1999 down to 55.4% in 2014) The big increase in method has been in "suffocation," which I take to mean hanging. (Assuming that the number of serial killer assisted suicides using pillows is not significant)

Should restrictions be placed on the sale of ropes?

The article states: "The report showed a surge in suicides among middle-age men and women, a factor noted in rising death rates among middle-aged people and a decline in white Americans life expectancy in 2014." The writer searches for an explanation but cannot come up with one. (Is Global Warming the cause?)

(Click on the graph to see the full article in the Wall Street Journal.)