Opiate epidemic in the heartland USA

Much of the opioid epidemic can be traced to rural Ohio. Pharmaceutical and prescription drugs companies heavily promoted OxyContin, which helped pioneer the expansion of “pill mills.” At one point, the Ohio-Kentucky border county of Scioto was home to at least eight area mills that cashed out on aggressively prescribing huge quantities of pain medication with little discretion. The Children’s Defense Fund recently found that Scioto leads Ohio in the rate of babies born with drug addiction.

Over the past last year, the addiction problem has exploded here. In 2015, 3,050 people died from overdoses in Ohio - that’s 8 people a day. According to the annual report on unintentional drug overdose deaths released by the Ohio Department of Health, an even more potent synthetic narcotic that is often mixed with heroin called fentanyl is responsible for more than one-third of drug overdose deaths.
 By JACQUELINE ALEMANY CBS NEWS November 1, 2016, 6:00 AM

http://www.cbsnews.com/news

The Big Winners and Losers in America’s Social Security System

Low earners often get more from Social Security benefits than they pay in, while high earners get less. One-income couples also fare better

By

LAURA SAUNDERS

Oct. 28, 2016 5:30 a.m. ET

What will you receive in Social Security benefits compared with the taxes you pay in?

The short answer: Low earners often get more than they put in, while high earners get less. By one estimate, the turning point is currently around $65,000 for a single worker and double that for couples earning similar pay.

This question has come up since the Social Security Administration last week announced a payroll-tax increase affecting...

http://www.wsj.com/articles

General Election: Trump vs. Clinton www.realpolitics.com

Polling Data

Poll	Date	Sample	MoE	Clinton (D)	Trump (R)	Spread
RCP Average	10/20 - 10/29	--	--	47.6	43.3	Clinton +4.3
ABC/Wash Post Tracking	10/25 - 10/28	1160 LV	3.0	49	46	Clinton +3
LA Times/USC Tracking	10/23 - 10/29	3220 LV	4.5	44	46	Trump +2
IBD/TIPP Tracking	10/24 - 10/29	1013 LV	3.3	45	41	Clinton +4
Economist/YouGov	10/22 - 10/26	1209 LV	3.3	49	46	Clinton +3
FOX News	10/22 - 10/25	1221 LV	2.5	49	44	Clinton +5
Pew Research	10/20 - 10/25	2120 RV	2.4	50	43	Clinton +7
CNBC	10/21 - 10/24	LV	--	47	37	Clinton +10

All General Election: Trump vs. Clinton Polling Data

Economy of the United States of America

The United States is the world's largest national economy in nominal terms and second largest according to purchasing power parity (PPP), representing 22% of nominal global GDP and 17% of gross world product (GWP). The United States' GDP was estimated to be $17.914 trillion as of Q2 2015. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions and is the world's foremost reserve currency, backed by its science and technology, its military, the full faith of the US government to reimburse its debts, its central role in a range of international institutions since World War II and thepetrodollar system. Several countries use it as their official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency.The United States has a mixed economy and has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment. Its seven largest trading partners are Canada,China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.^[

The US has abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the world's ninth-highest per capita GDP (nominal) and tenth-highest per capita GDP (PPP) as of 2013. Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD nations, and in 2010 had the fourth highest median household income, down from second highest in 2007. It has been the world's largest national economy (not including colonial empires) since at least the 1890s.^[

The U.S. is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas. It is one of the largest trading nations in the world as well as the world's second largest manufacturer, representing a fifth of the global manufacturing output. The US not only has the largest internal market for goods, but also dominates the trade in services. US total trade amounted to $4.93T in 2012. Of the world's 500 largest companies, 128 are headquartered in the US. The consumer market of the US represents the largest in the world.The United States has one of the world's largest and most influential financial markets. The New York Stock Exchange is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization. Foreign investments made in the US total almost $2.4 trillion, while American investments in foreign countries total over $3.3 trillion. The economy of the U.S. leads in international ranking on venture capital and Global Research and Development funding. Consumer spendingcomprises 71% of the US economy in 2013. The United States has the largest consumer market in the world, with ahousehold final consumption expenditure five times larger than Japan's. The labor market has attracted immigrants from all over the world and its net migration rate is among the highest in the world. The U.S. is one of the top-performing economies in studies such as the Ease of Doing Business Index, the Global Competitiveness Report, and others.

The US economy went through an economic downturn following the financial crisis of 2007–08, with output as late as 2013 still below potential according to the Congressional Budget Office. The economy, however, began to recover in the second half of 2009, and as of November 2015, unemployment had declined from a high of 10% to 5%.

In December 2014, public debt was slightly more than 100% of GDP. Domestic financial assets totaled $131 trillion and domestic financial liabilities totaled $106 trillion.^[

^{Source:(www.en.wikipedia.org)}

USA economics