Top 20 charts of 2024

Most of these charts are intriguing, not literally the most important trends of the year. But some of them are! Enjoy.

1. Abortions are up

The data now broadly agrees: ever since Dobbs the overall abortion rate has gone up, not down. Telehealth across state lines and pharmaceutical abortions have driven the increase.

2. Extremist killings are a right-wing phenomenon

Virtually all killings done by political extremists are right wing. This explains why that's what the media reports.

3. It was a bad year for incumbents

This was the first year ever in which every single election worldwide went against the governing party. Perhaps Kamala Harris did pretty well under the circumstances?

4. Partisan differences drive institutional mistrust

Generally speaking, it's not true that "Americans" have lost trust in institutions. It's mostly just Republicans, driven by the constant barrage of outrage from Fox News.

5. US government efficiency is pretty good

According to a World Bank measure of government efficiency, the US is one of the best big countries in the world. See also here.

6. Gender dysphoria is (sometimes) fleeting

Lots of young teens say they have feeling of being the wrong sex, but by age 19 it mostly goes away on its own. Only about 3% of people in their twenties continue to feel gender dysphoria if it's not treated.

7. Inflation happened everywhere

Inflation wasn't due to Joe Biden's stimulus bill. It happened everywhere in the world in exactly the same way and at exactly the same time. It was caused by pandemic supply chain shortages and government aid to keep people whole, almost all of which in the US was spent under the Trump administration.

8. Red states are not low-tax states

They generally tax rich people at low rates, but the working class doesn't do so well.

9. Illegal immigration is all about the jobs

Illegal immigrants come to America to work. The ups and downs of the illegal immigration rate can be explained almost entirely by job demand in the US.

10. Maternal mortality isn't up.

Last year, along with everyone else, I reported that maternal mortality was skyrocketing. But it turns out this is entirely a statistical artifact due to changes in the way maternal mortality is reported. When you correct for this, it turns out there's been no change at all since 2000.

11. The Afghanistan withdrawal was a model of great performance under terrible circumstances

Contrary to its usual description as "chaotic," the Afghanistan withdrawal mostly went well. The first day was indeed chaotic, which set the tone for all subsequent reporting, and ISIS killed a lot of people with a single suicide bomber. But for the most part the Army managed to airlift a stunning number of people to safety in only a couple of weeks.

12. Kids have given up on drugs

Teens continue to use marijuana a lot, but their use of cigarettes, alcohol, and hard drugs has plummeted over the past two decades.

13. Yes, we're building electric charging stations

The plan to build 100,000 charging stations across the US was always meant to take until 2030. The numbers start out small because you have to plan before you can build, but they're basically on track.

14. We need more doctors

Do you wonder why it's so hard to get an appointment with your primary care physician? This is why.

15. We sure are building a lot of offices

Despite the fact that we're supposedly not working much at the office anymore, we're building office space at the same rate as the peak of the housing bubble. This is all part of the mystery of just how prevalent teleworking really is.

16. Business formation is way up

In 2021 the rate of small business formation surged and has stayed high ever since. No one has ever explained this.

17. Overdose deaths are finally dropping

Starting last September, drug overdose deaths suddenly began to fall steeply. On a monthly basis they're now down a stunning 40% from their peak.

18. SNAP benefits have gone way up

I'm putting this one up because so few people seem to realize that Joe Biden permanently and substantially raised food stamp benefits for poor people. Since he took office, he's raised SNAP benefits by 43% compared to food inflation of only 20%.

19. Teen suicide attempts aren't rising

Over the past three decades, the number of teens who attempted suicide has been completely flat. This is one of several markers suggesting that we've overreacted to the notion that today's teens are existentially unhappy and stressed thanks to social media.

20. The Hispanic vote decided the 2024 election

Under normal circumstances, a 2% Republican presidential victory would predict a 33% winning margin for Democrats among Hispanics. In 2024 it produced a 5% margin. This is far and away the most crucial element of Kamala Harris's loss. The big question now is whether this is a permanent shift or a weird one-off, as in 2004.

21. Americans make a lot of money

According to the CBO, even the poorest Americans earn about $56,000 per year once you take into account taxes and government benefits. That's a pretty fair amount

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Author Of article : Kevin Drum

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