U.S. Lags Behind Many Rich Countries

“The United States is different. In nearly every other high-income country, people have both become richer over the last three decades and been able to enjoy substantially longer lifespans,” the New York Times reports.

“But not in the United States. Even as average incomes have risen, much of the economic gains have gone to the affluent — and life expectancy has risen only three years since 1990. There is no other developed country that has suffered such a stark slowdown in lifespans.”

“Why has this happened? There are multiple causes. But one big one is a lack of political power among the bulk of the population.”