It’s remarkable how Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz takes his duty of speaking truth to power so seriously, exposing the misinformation mentioned in the post above. Following the discussion about him here: it’s worth reading his recently published article, where he highlights some striking yet concerning facts about the U.S.:
"To get a good reading on a country’s economic
health, start by looking at the health of its citizens...Among developed
countries, America sits at the bottom in this regard...One reason for declining
life expectancy in America is what Anne Case and Nobel laureate economist Angus Deaton call deaths
of despair, caused by alcohol, drug overdoses, and suicide. In 2017
(the most recent year for which good data are available), such deaths stood
at almost four times their 1999 level" https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/grim-truth-about-trump-economy-by-joseph-e-stiglitz-2020-01
One revealing example is the hospitalization rate for diabetes patients per 100,000 inhabitants, where the U.S. performs significantly worse than other developed nations:
USA.....................170
Denmark................98
Sweden..................79
Norway...................77
The Netherlands....59
Portugal.................52
Spain.....................45
Italy........................43
The irony is that, according to the OECD, the U.S. spends far more per person on healthcare than these countries. So where is all the money going? https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/reports/2019/04/08/468302/excess-administrative-costs-burden-u-s-health-care-system/
PS - Adding to this grim picture, a study published in the American Journal of Medicine analyzing 9 million cancer cases found that: "40% depleted life savings in just 2 years and 38% go bankrupt in just 4 years" https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(18)30509-6/fulltext
