Deaths of Despair Growing Among Young Americans

 

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent piece pointing out that death rates among young people have been rising.  here's a quote from the article:

Between 2019 and 2020, the overall mortality rate for ages 1 to 19 rose by 10.7%, and increased by an additional 8.3% the following year, according to an analysis of federal death statistics led by Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, published in JAMA in March. That’s the highest increase for two consecutive years in the half-century that the government has publicly tracked such figures, according to Woolf’s analysis.

Other developed countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and Norway also saw a rise in some death counts among young people during that time, though the upticks were often concentrated in narrow age groups or one gender, according to global death counts provided by Christopher J.L. Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Here is the graphic from their article: 

One of the comments made reference to how homeless or living rough should be considered a cause.  I agree.  That's not well captured in the medical data--it's hard to attribute a specific cause.  However, watching videos of homelessness, especially places like Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood,. one gets the sense that there are too many young lives off course in our country.

Biden Medicare Plan Fleeces the Young

Biden’s Medicare plans look like they came straight out of the playbook of the AARP.  His plans demonstrate that the Democratic Party doesn’t care about young Americans. 

On Tuesday (March 7) President Biden announced his plan to save Medicare.  His plan disinherits the young: it sacrifices the interests of young Americans to benefit the old.  That may be good politics.  Young people have little political power in America.  But it’s bad for the future of our country.

Here’s a quick roundup of three ways that Biden’s plans harm young Americans:

First, Medicare is going bankrupt because it provides the elderly with benefits that cost far more than the amount of taxes that they out into the system.  But Biden wants to make Medicare even more generous and thus more costly to younger taxpayers.

Biden wants to reduce the age of eligibility from 65 to 60.  That means that millions more will become eligible for government benefits.  That costs the system in two ways.  First, more people will be part of the program which means benefit costs go up.  Second, Medicare and Social Security payroll tax revenues are going to go down since people will take advantage of the benefits by retiring earlier. 

The responsible thing is to raise the age of eligibility from 65 to 70.  The average life expectancy of Americans has increase by 9 years since Medicare started in 1966 so retirees in America are already collecting benefits far longer than originally intended.  Reducing the age to 60 means that the average retiree would get 25 years of taxpayer subsidized health care.

Second, Biden wants to hike taxes on Americans earning more than $400,000 a year.  Currently, Americans in this range already pay an extra 3.8 percent on top of the existing federal income tax rate of 37 percent.  Biden wants to increase the rate to 5 percent which means that the top federal rate is now 42 percent.  Then add state taxes on top of that.  So high earners in California are going to be taxed at the astounding rate of 55 percent (47 percent in Massachusetts, 50 percent in Wisconsin).

High taxes reduce economic activity.  Hiking taxes on the most productive, hard working and entrepreneurial Americans will only these people to do three things: (a) become less productive; (ii) not work as hard; and (iii) be less entrepreneurial.  The result: slower growth and fewer career opportunities for young Americans in a stagnant economy.     

Third, Biden wants to force down process for prescription drugs.  That sounds good in the present.  But lower prices mean less incentive for the development of new drug treatments.   Economists Tomas Philipson and Troy Durie of the University of Chicago estimate that price controls for prescription drugs would lead to a 29 to 60 percent decline in the number of new drug treatments brought to market by 2039.  As a result, Millennials and Gen Z will have fewer treatments available when they need them in later life.

It true that Medicare is going bankrupt.  But is it doing so because of political myopia and the craven desire of Washington politicians to channel benefits to the politically influential (the elderly) while stock the costs to the politically weak (the young).

What America needs is statemen that think of the next generation, not politicians like Biden that only think of the next election.

A statesman would acknowledge that life expectancy has increased dramatically since the program began.  Therefore, rather than lowering the age of eligibility to 60, a statesman would raise it to 70.

A statesman would recognize that Medicare is a very good deal for current retirees.  Economists C. Eugene Steuerle and Karen Smith estimate the even high earnings individuals are getting more out of the program in terms of benefits than they paid in in taxes.  It shouldn’t be too much to ask the elderly to pay a little more in premiums to support the program.

Unfortunately for young Americans, statesmen are in short supply.  Washington is full of politicians.  And that’s why you are routinely fleeced by the likes of Joe Biden. 

 

Quiet Quitters and Productivity

Survey datashows that job dedication among young people is far lower than for older generations. Is this due to their upbringing--that what's important is me and my happiness? Or is it due to the fact that older people tend to be managers while young people are individual contributors? My experience is that it's far easier to be dedicated to your job if you are the one calling the shots versus the one taking orders. If the latter, it suggests that we are going to see very slow productivity growth going forward.

WSJ: Young Americans Being Driven Deeper into Debt

 

The Wall Street Journal documents how inflation, rising home prices, and fallout from COVID are driving young Americans deeper into debt.  One wonders how long they’ll keep voting for the politicians that are impoverishing them.

The Wall Street Journal reports that debt levels and credit card delinquencies are rising more rapidly among young Americans than any other demographic group.

The article cites three factors, all of which have their basis in government policies. 

First, there is inflation, a creation of frenzied Federal Reserve money creation.  The Journal writes:

“Now, rapid inflation is forcing many to spend more on gas, groceries and rent, eating into pandemic savings. The last round of stimulus checks went out in 2021. Families are back to commuting, traveling and eating out again. The Federal Reserve’s campaign to curb inflation has pushed up interest rates on credit cards and other types of loans.”

Then there’s COVID.  The Journal points out that families had to spend a lot more on child care when schools were closed—and teachers given paid vacations—during the pandemic.  The Journal writes:

“Some changes are hurting millennials in particular. Many spent unplanned thousands of dollars on child care or tutoring when schools closed. Some relied heavily on a pandemic-era program, the government’s monthly child tax credit payment, but that has lapsed.”

And third, we have skyrocketing home prices.  The Journal writes:

“Many 30-somethings are trying to buy their first homes and have been squeezed by higher rates and home prices. The median price for an existing home was $359,000 in January, more than $90,000 higher compared with three years earlier. In recent years, prices rose the most in lower-cost neighborhoods that are more likely to be in millennials’ budget range.”

The factors that lead to home price inflation can all be traced back to government policy in some form.

 The Federal Reserve’s free money policies of the last fifteen years did nothing for home buyers.  Sure, you could get a mortgage on the cheap.  But that also meant that there was a lot of competition among buyers so sellers could get a high price. 

On balance, low rates did nothing for home buyers.  Home ownership rates for young people didn’t go up during Bernanke, Yellen and Powell’s decade and a half of monetary madness.     

Couple that with NIMBYism and zoning restrictions that make it very difficult to build new homes because that’s no land.  As Mark Twain said about land: “they ain’t making any more of it” and as long as local governments won’t allow greater density, they ain’t making more homes either.

Unfortunately, the Baby Boomers and Gen Z have proven slow to learn that government is the source of, not the antidote, to their problems.

As long as young people keep voting for more government, they’ll continue to get the shaft, and go deeper into debt to make ends meet.

Government Schools are America’s Engine of Inequality

 

The failure of government schools to provide poor kids with a basic education is a handicap that few are ever able overcome.  Rather than a social leveler, government schools are the driving force for inequality in America.

In Baltimore there are 23 elementary schools in which not a single student is proficient in math.  No one student in the entire school.  In the entire city, only seven percent—one in fourteen students—is proficient in math.

In one Baltimore school, a GPA of 0.13 places a student in the top half of the class. 

To call Baltimore schools a public school is a misnomer.  They don’t serve the public.  Instead, they serve the teachers unions, administrators with lifetime appointments, and the craven politicians who benefit from a captive voting block of government dependents. 

Here’s a story from the Baltimore Fox affiliate on the failure of government schools in that city.

  

If the Fox Project Baltimore story doesn’t make you mad, check your pulse to make sure that your heart is still beating.

The same story plays out in government schools throughout the United States. 

In Milwaukee, just 11 percent of fourth graders are proficient in math.

In California statewide, only 27 percent of eleventh graders met or exceeded statewide standards for math.   

Just 30 percent of Boston public school students—less than one in three--are proficient in math. 

The primary reason for inequality in America is not racism or the police.  It is the government school system. 

Consider what life is like for the students in these 23 Baltimore schools.  They’ve been robbed of the opportunity to have an education, to develop their minds.  And when you don’t have educational opportunity, you don’t have life opportunity either.

It’s not just that they’ve been victimized by the Baltimore school system today.  They’ll continue to be victims for the rest of their lives. 

So many important decisions in life require quantitative reasoning skills.  Managing your finances requires quantitative reasoning skills.  Weighing risk against reward requires quantitative reasoning skills.  Running a business requires quantitative reasoning skills. 

Those who can manage their finances, understand risk, and run a business get ahead in life.  Those who can’t find themselves falling victim to scammers, loan sharks and flim-flam artists throughout their lifetime. 

Nearly Half of Millennials and Gen Z Struggling to Make Ends Meet in the Biden Economy

 A new survey of the financial condition of Americans shows that nearly one in two Millennials and Gen Zers report that they regularly run out of money.  And this is before the likely recession in 2023.

Janet Yellen might not see signs that Americans are hurting but a new survey of personal financial conditions tells a different story. 

Prudential Financial’s most recent Pulse Survey found that 49 percent of Millennials and 40 percent of Gen Zers report that they regularly run out of money and have to rely on credit cards or parents for financial support. 

The survey also found that 46 percent of Gen Z and 42 percent of Millennials say that they would not be able to support their current lifestyle without parental support.

Financial difficulties are a major source of stress for young Americans. Half of the Millennials surveyed reported that they had trouble sleeping during the past year because of financial stress. 

The financial difficulties facing the Millennial generation are particularly concerning because most Millennials should be well into their careers at this point.

The Millennial generation is typically defined to include those born in 1981 through 1996.  The youngest Millennials are 26 and the oldest 43. 

That so many young Americans are struggling financially underscores the weakness of the Biden economy.

And this is before the much-anticipated recession of 2023.

63 percent of U.S. College Students Feel Intimidated Sharing Opinions in Class

The College Fix reports on the results of the annual William F. Buckley Institute's survey of college students.

The story from the College Fix is available here.

Also from the survey, slightly more students would prefer to live under socialism than capitalism.  

Here is the link to the full survey results.