Thought for the day

The Trump Years: The Chinese live longer and get richer. Americans die younger


 
Last updated: 3 July 2024
 
President Trump only had four years to make America great again. But clearly didn't succeed in conventional measures. His presidential term lasted from January 2017 to January 2021, whereas our charts cover the four presidential years plus all of 2021 and 2022, in case his influence lingered on post term.

China overtakes the USA in both GDP and life expectancy terms
Data from World Economics and United Nations
The Trump Years: The Chinese live longer and get richer. Americans die younger
* GDP in Purchasing Power Parity terms with added estimates for the size of the informal economy and adjustments for out-of-date GDP base year data.


But however you look at the data, its clear Chinese GDP just kept on rising, around 6% a year, whereas the American economy (in annual compound terms) grew barely a third of that. Perhaps even more significant, life expectancy kept on rising in China, whereas it fell sharply in the USA, reflecting the opioid crisis, poor management of the Covid epidemic and other negative factors (and despite healthcare costs far exceeding those of other developed countries).  See more data...



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