http://www.textbooksfree.org/Recent U.S. Decades Ranked by Problems 1

Health Problems Solved
1902 Scarlet Fever deaths peaked at close to 5,000 and then slowly dropped thanks to penicillin.
1905 Last Yellow Fever epidemic killed 20 in US as misquote control eliminated cause. 1936 vaccine ended disease.
1916 Measles 12,000 mostly children died. Vaccine finally eliminated most cases by early 1980's.
1918 Spanish Flu 500,000 died in US. This could have been the cause of the post WW 1 recession.
1921 Diphtheria 206,000 cases, 15,520 deaths, mostly children died.
1943 Penicillin 1,000,000 lives be saved during the 20th century.
1953 Polio 57,628 cases with 21,000 paralyzed Vaccine followed and Polio is now about gone.
1957-58 Asian Flu 70,000 died in US.
1968-69 Hong Kong Flu 34,000 died in US.
1973 US ends Conscription
1985-95+ AIDS killed ten to twenty thousand per year in 1970's. Annual deaths peaked at 41,699 in mid 1990's
and then they quickly dropped due to super drug development and availability. Total US deaths were 658,507.
2011 TB A 50% kill rate in 1900 dropped from 86,304 in 1959 the first year of data availability to 10,528 in 2011. 529 died in 2009.
By the 1960's Measles, Mumps, Rubella and a 1995 Chicken Pox vaccines made childhood safer and more enjoyable
Return to Top as did seat belts, infant safety seats, bicycle safety helmets, and 1962 began the era of government sponsored child protective services.

US Deaths from Infectious Disease source

⁴U.S. Cost of War
Nineteen-month World War 1 killed 116,516 from all causes with 204,002 wounded in action. The resulting peace treaty severely penalized Germany and divided the Ottoman Empire among the winners. These winners continued their 19th Century Western Colonialism, which planted the seeds for Arab Unrest.

Four year World War 2 killed 405,399 from all causes
with 670,660 wounded in action. Losers were not punished. Russian Bear having suffered 26.6 military and civilian deaths used their newly occupied eastern European territory to provide a protective buffer.
Three year Korean War killed 36,574 with 103,284 wounded in action. South Korea remained free. Japan felt safe and used a small defense budget to build industrial capital and rejoined the developed world.

The very long Vietnam War ² killed 58,220 with over
153,303 wounded with few important positive results.

As of 12/31/14 Afghanistan War killed 2,312 with 20,026 wounded with few important positive results.

As of 5/29/12 Iraq War killed 4,425 with 32,223 wounded with few important positive results.

⁵Cold War
After WW 2 the Russian Communists seized power in Poland, closed access to Berlin and the Western Allies countered with an airlift. Russia exploded an atomic bomb. Communists won the Chinese Communist Revolution.

The 1950-53 Korean War had UN forces fighting against North Korean Communists invaders.

Russia exploded a Hydrogen bomb, put down revolts in Poland and Hungary, and launched 2 Sputniks.

The 1956 Suez Canal Crisis caused tension between Western allies.

Military and political advisors wanted to use nuclear weapons in the Korean War against China and again wanted them used against China in reference to Taiwan and Formosa. Ike didn't listen. The US 1960 U-2 Spy Plane Incident ended the Eisenhower Administration's chess game with Communism and it also ended the very brief Paris Peace Conference. Ike had been trying unsuccessfully for eight years to control a renegade CIA. He had wanted the expose the missile gap fear created by the CIA.

JFK didn't listen to his advisors who also wanted to use nuclear weapons in relation to the 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis. A more peaceful blockade settled the crisis.

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Recent Bailouts
1975 New York City $1.3b paid back + interest
1979 Chrysler Motors $1.5b paid back + interest
1982 Oklahoma-based Penn Square Bank $65m
1984 Continental Illinois Bank bailout $14b
1980's Savings and Loan Bailouts $124.6b ^[2]
2009-10 Great Recession TARP cost $24b, Detroit cost $16b Positive results GM and Chrysler workers kept their jobs. Quick action by two administrations helped create a quick US economic recovery while Europe still dilly dallies. At 2% additional economic growth per year the higher GDP is worth about $300 billion/year.

Determinates of U.S. Individual Well-Being
1) Society's accumulations are key to the well-being of its citizens.
    Think how the public safety net has steadily increased since the
    1930's and the successes of the federal Children's Bureau.
2) Scientific achievements have continuously added to citizen well-being.
    Think disease control, smart phones, streaming audio/video, Gillette
    Stadium...See great achievements
3) Personal Income which is a function of nature and nurture has
     increased continuously if not always rapidly. Think Russia, China,
     and Europe's really slow recovery from the Great Recession ...