"This book documents the decline of white-working class lives over the last half-century and examines the social and economic forces that have slowly made these lives more difficult. Case and Deaton argue that market and political power in the United States have moved away from labor towards capital-as unions have weakened and politics have become more favorable to business, corporations have become more powerful. Consolidation in some American industries, healthcare especially, has brought an increase in monopoly power in some product markets so that it is possible for firms to raise prices above what they would be in a freely competitive market. This, the authors argue, is a major cause of wage stagnation among working-class Americans and has played a substantial role in the increase in deaths of despair. Case and Deaton offer a way forward, including ideas that, even in our current political situation, may be feasible and improve lives"--

Calm before the storm -- Things come apart -- Deaths of despair -- Lives and deaths of the more (and less) educated -- Black and white deaths -- Health of the living -- Misery and mystery of pain -- Suicide, drugs, and alcohol -- Opioids -- False trails : poverty, income, and the Great Recession -- Growing apart at work -- Widening gaps at home -- How American healthcare is undermining lives -- Capitalism, immigrants, robots, and China -- Firms, consumers, and workers -- What to do?