US Economy: The decline and fall of America's working people - by Noah Smith

One big piece of news in the past couple of weeks has been the release of a new paper by recent economics Nobel-winner Angus Deaton and his co-author, Anne Case.

The paper highlights a very disturbing trend -- death rates are increasing for white people in America, especially for working-class, middle-aged whites. The increase looks like it has been going on since the late 1990s.

Among other American groups, such as Hispanics and blacks, mortality has fallen across all age and income groups during the past decade and a half.

The trend is concentrated among the less educated. For college-educated whites, mortality fell, much as it did for other racial groups and other nations. For those with some college, mortality was unchanged -- a poor result, but not disastrous. But for white Americans with no college education, deaths have soared.
Something very troubling and very unique is happening to American working-class whites.

The immediate causes of the increase are not hard to identify. Drugs and suicide are the culprits. There is an epidemic of prescription painkiller, alcohol and heroin abuse among American whites. Deaths from alcohol and drug poisoning among middle-class whites have skyrocketed. White suicide rates have also risen dramatically to more than 20 per 100,000 people in the 45-54 age cohort.

One big piece of news in the past couple of weeks has been the release of a new paper by recent economics Nobel-winner Angus Deaton and his co-author, Anne Case. The paper highlights a very disturbing trend -- death rates are increasing for white people in America, especially for working-class, middle-aged whites. The increase looks like it has been going on since the late 1990s.

Among other American groups, such as Hispanics and blacks, mortality has fallen across all age and income groups during the past decade and a half.


The trend is concentrated among the less educated. For college-educated whites, mortality fell, much as it did for other racial groups and other nations. For those with some college, mortality was unchanged -- a poor result, but not disastrous. But for white Americans with no college education, deaths have soared.
Something very troubling and very unique is happening to American working-class whites.

The immediate causes of the increase are not hard to identify. Drugs and suicide are the culprits. There is an epidemic of prescription painkiller, alcohol and heroin abuse among American whites. Deaths from alcohol and drug poisoning among middle-class whites have skyrocketed. White suicide rates have also risen dramatically to more than 20 per 100,000 people in the 45-54 age cohort.

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/news/ci_29120350/decline-and-fall-americas-working-people#ixzz3rbX1iQNr

Read more: The decline and fall of America's working people - Lowell Sun Online

Immigration: Asian Immigrants Surpass Hispanics As Biggest Immigrant Wave To U.S.

A new study has found that the U.S. has seen a higher level of Asian immigration to the country than immigration of Hispanics; perhaps revealing a future decrease in undocumented immigration and increase in demand for highly-skilled workers.

About 430,000 Asians, or 36 percent of all new immigrants, arrived in the U.S. in 2010, according to the latest census data. That’s compared to about 370,000, or 31 percent, who were Hispanic.

“Too often the policy debates on immigration fixate on just one part – illegal immigration,’’ said to the Associated Press, Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at the University of California-Riverside and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “US immigration is more diverse and broader than that, with policy that needs to focus also on high-skilled workers.’’

Read more: Asian Immigrants Surpass Hispanics As Biggest Immigrant Wave To U.S.

US Presidential Elections: Hispanics back Obama over Romney on policy says Poll

President Obama

Hispanics favour President Barack Obama’s policies over those of Republican rival Mitt Romney by large margins but many in the fast-growing voter group are still undecided on issues more than six months ahead of the presidential election.

Hispanics also feel the Democratic Party better serves the needs of most Americans than the Republican Party, which bodes poorly for Romney and members of his party running in congressional and state elections.

Latinos clearly backed Obama over Romney on seven out of eight issues, from immigration to social security, in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday. The two were in a statistical tie in the eighth area: the economy.

Thirty-three percent of Hispanics felt Obama has a better policy, plan or approach on immigration, compared to 14 percent for Romney who was criticized by Latinos for suggesting illegal immigrants should “self-deport” themselves.

For more: Hispanics back Obama over Romney on policy: Poll | World | News | Toronto Sun