# Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism - Hardcover

by **Anne Case** (Author), **Angus Deaton** (Author)

**A _New York Times_ Bestseller  
A _Wall Street Journal_ Bestseller  
A _New York Times_ Notable Book of 2020  
A _New York Times Book Review_ Editors' Choice  
Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year  
A _New Statesman_ Book to Read**

**From economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, a groundbreaking account of how the flaws in capitalism are fatal for America's working class**

Life expectancy in the United States has recently fallen for three years in a row--a reversal not seen since 1918 or in any other wealthy nation in modern times. In the past two decades, deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism have risen dramatically, and now claim hundreds of thousands of American lives each year--and they're still rising. Anne Case and Angus Deaton, known for first sounding the alarm about deaths of despair, explain the overwhelming surge in these deaths and shed light on the social and economic forces that are making life harder for the working class. They demonstrate why, for those who used to prosper in America, capitalism is no longer delivering.

_Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism_ paints a troubling portrait of the American dream in decline. For the white working class, today's America has become a land of broken families and few prospects. As the college educated become healthier and wealthier, adults without a degree are literally dying from pain and despair. In this critically important book, Case and Deaton tie the crisis to the weakening position of labor, the growing power of corporations, and, above all, to a rapacious health-care sector that redistributes working-class wages into the pockets of the wealthy. Capitalism, which over two centuries lifted countless people out of poverty, is now destroying the lives of blue-collar America.

This book charts a way forward, providing solutions that can rein in capitalism's excesses and make it work for everyone.

### Author Biography

**Anne Case** is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University. **Angus Deaton,** winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in economics, is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs Emeritus at Princeton University and Presidential Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California. His books include _The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality_ (Princeton). They live in Princeton, New Jersey

**Number of Pages:** 312

**Dimensions:** 1.3 x 9.4 x 6.5 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** March 17, 2020

## Details

- **Price:** 27.95 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 27.95 USD | In stock |

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- Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism - Hardcover

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