The most telling indicator of a people’s welfare is life expectancy. US life expectancy is forecast at 79.5 years for both sexes this year. This makes it
48th in the world. China’s life expectancy is forecast to be almost as high, at 78. UK and German life expectancy is 81.5, French 83.5, Italy’s 83.9 and Japan’s 84.9. Yet the US spends far more on health, relative to GDP, than any other country. This shows great wastefulness, though this low US life expectancy has a number of additional explanations. Yet, what does the high measured US GDP mean if some 17 per cent was spent on health, with such poor results? More broadly, what does US prosperity mean when combined with such potent indicators of low welfare? These outcomes are the result of high inequality, poor personal choices and crazy social ones. Some 400mn guns are apparently in circulation.
