The Decline and Fall of America (In Numbers)

In numbers, a lot about the United States appears to be on the decline. Of course, you can focus on the positive numbers like unemployment and the stock market, but they do not excuse the statistics that are so out of keeping with America’s image as the world’s leading developed nation.

Trump ran on a message of making America great again, which puzzled people who were informed and not lost in conspiracy theories. America is already great and doing very well on many measures. The stock market is high, unemployment low. The great universities, and their associated cities, continue to push the boundaries of inventiveness, changing the future of humanity: from breakthroughs in space flight and electric cars to algorithms and AI. Yet America also has another story, one told in statistics, which is in conflict with the science, innovation, and industry that is truly great about the country. Ironically, while addressing these issues would be the most direct path to greatness, Trump is not addressing any of them and is actively making them worse.

When viewed together, the darker statistics paint a worrying picture of a country failing on some of the most fundamental measures that we — including Americans — would consider the foundations of a successful and advanced nation. These are the failings by which we judge other, less advanced nations, yet they persist in the United States itself.

And the painful truth about this story is that it cannot be pinned on Trump. Declines, as they appear in…