Is the U.S. Economy Killing Middle-Aged White People?

Researchers on Monday released the results of a statistical survey showing a striking increase in the death rates of white, middle-aged Americans who have less than a college education. The researchers didn’t draw any hard conclusions as to the reasons for the spike (“This paper really is a question, not an answer,” one observer told theWashington Post), but they offered a couple of speculations. Economic forces are likely at least partly to blame, they said.