Why ‘Deaths of Despair’ May Be a Warning Sign for America
Does a decades-long rise in suicide among white Americans signal an emerging crisis for U.S. capitalism and democracy? Nobel prize-winning economist Angus Deaton, and his wife, fellow Princeton Prof. Anne Case, share their provocative theory with WSJ’s Jason Bellini in this episode of Moving Upstream. A link to their book, Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism, is in the additional resource section below.
Suicides are at the highest rate in decades, CDC report shows
Article by Julissa Treviño
The suicide rate is the highest it’s been in decades, the latest warning sign of a worsening public health issue in America that needs far more attention.
The suicide rate is at a 50-year peak, according to the AP. The new data shows that there were 2,000 more deaths from suicide last year than in 2016, the year when suicide became the second-leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 10 and 34 and the fourth-leading cause for middle-aged Americans.
Additional resources
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Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism
Book by economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton
Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism paints a troubling portrait of the American dream in decline. For the white working class, today's America has become a land of broken families and few prospects. As the college educated become healthier and wealthier, adults without a degree are literally dying from pain and despair. In this critically important book, Case and Deaton tie the crisis to the weakening position of labor, the growing power of corporations, and, above all, to a rapacious health-care sector that redistributes working-class wages into the pockets of the wealthy. Capitalism, which over two centuries lifted countless people out of poverty, is now destroying the lives of blue-collar America.
One Nation Under Stress: Deaths of Despair in the United States
Full documentary
In the 1960s, Americans had among the highest life expectancy in the world. Today, the U.S. ranks near the bottom of major developed nations. One Nation Under Stress examines the reasons for this historic decline.
Despite spending more on healthcare than any other country, America is experiencing decreased life expectancy. In One Nation Under Stress, neurosurgeon and investigative journalist Dr. Sanjay Gupta sets out to discover why. Driven primarily by an epidemic of self-inflicted deaths of despair — from drug overdose, chronic liver disease and suicide – this rise in the U.S. mortality rate can be seen as a symptom of the toxic, pervasive stress in America today.
Deaths of Despair and the American Healthcare System
Video discussion of this phenomenon and public policies to address it
Deaths of despair primarily strike those without a college degree whose loss of a way of life has led them to suicide, alcoholism, drug overdose, and finally premature death. Today’s pandemic – which disproportionately has impacted African Americans and Hispanics – has further exacerbated these deaths of despair as those without a college degree are less likely to be able to continue their work and pay remotely, while those who are able to continue to work typically fill essential jobs that often put them at great risk of COVID-19 infection.