Comment by jazzyk | Hacker News Reader

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Comment by jazzyk | Hacker News Reader

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Where do I begin?

1. Life expectancy - getting lower for the first time in generations

2. Suicide rate - at an all-time high

3. Opioid crisis - need I say more

4. Labor participation 63% - the lowest since 1978

5. Stagnant (falling for some) real wages since the Internet bubble crisis (2001)

I could go on for much longer....

https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/labor-force-parti...

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-...

1. life expectancy is going to be affected by the suicide rate and opioid crisis. On the bright side, we've practically cured cancer, with about 70% actually surviving.

2,3. The improving economy should help. We are at historically low levels of unemployment for many subgroups, including hispanics and blacks. Factory employment has recovered to levels not seen in decades.

4. Labor participation should continue to drop as the baby boomers retire. It will rise again as they die. The normal unemployment numbers, which don't include the retired, are showing a situation that is wonderful for American workers. The numbers would look even better if not for the fact that large numbers of "discouraged workers" are reentering the workforce; these people had not been counted because they had given up looking for work.

5. Wages are starting to rise. Of course, businesses are demanding immigration to "fix" the "problem" of rising wages.

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