In The Papers: Life Expectancy In The US

Samuel Preston and Jessica Ho look at life expectancy in the United States, asking whether American health care institutions are responsible for lower life expectancy.

Abstract:

Life expectancy in the United States fares poorly in international comparisons, primarily because of high mortality rates above age 50. Its low ranking is often blamed on a poor performance by the health care system rather than on behavioral or social factors. This paper presents evidence on the relative performance of the US health care system using death avoidance as the sole criterion. We find that, by standards of OECD countries, the US does well in terms of screening for cancer, survival rates from cancer, survival rates after heart attacks and strokes, and medication of individuals with high levels of blood pressure or cholesterol. We consider in greater depth mortality from prostate cancer and breast cancer, diseases for which effective methods of identification and treatment have been developed and where behavioral factors do not play a dominant role. We show that the US has had significantly faster declines in mortality from these two diseases than comparison countries. We conclude that the low longevity ranking of the United States is not likely to be a result of a poorly functioning health care system.

They note that life expectancy in the United States at age 50 is roughly 3.3 years less than Japan, and 1.5 years behind many western European countries, as well as Australia and Canada.  They note that smoking is a large factor in America’s low ranking—men would move from 14th to 9th (of the 20 OECD countries) and women from 18th to 7th.  They also note that this is not a comparative study in the realm of cost-effectiveness or efficiency, but rather “effectiveness at preventing death.”

One of their conclusions is that Americans do significantly better at cancer than other OECD countries—”for the major sites of lung, breast, prostate, colon, and rectum cancers, US survival rates were the highest of any of the 18 countries investigated” (4-5)  They also point out that early screening makes prostate and breast cancer much less deadly than in Europe.  For cardiovascular disease, American doctors tend to have a more “aggressive” treatment regimen, with Americans more likely to be on heart-related prescriptions or go under the knife for more complicated procedures.

In the end, the authors argue that the US mortality rate has not been negatively affected by the current health care system.  I would have liked to have the authors discuss exactly why the rate is so relatively bad.  They bring up smoking and obesity, but it seems like there’s got to be something more.  Either that or my Steve Sailer senses are tingling…

Forgotten Classic: The Journeyman Project

Beginning with this one, all Forgotten Classics will have a brief synopsis of the plot, enough so you get what it’s about, not so much that it ruins the game. If there’s demand, I’ll provide them for the earlier ones too (except Phoenix, which is just kill all the stuff you can before you die).

The Journeyman Project

Presto Studios (1994 for Turbo Version)

PC

Time Travel Adventure

Synopsis: Your character, Agent 5, works for the Temporal Security Annex, an organization designed to prevent nasty things happening in the past. Invariably, something goes wrong and you have to fix it.

Why it should be remembered: Games based on time travel generally fail miserably, either making the time travel unnecessary or strictly controlled. JP forces you to jump around quite a bit, collecting pieces in one time that are critical in another. The story is remarkably well done. The interface is quite simple and requires little work to understand it.

Why it’s forgotten: Although there have been multiple sequels, JP was initially a strictly Macintosh release. There was a time when gamers used Macs; that time has passed. Many complained the game felt empty, with few other people. The technical requirements were also quite high for the time. Ultimately, it was another Myst-like game that was thoroughly supplanted by Myst, which even I admit is the better game, albeit grudgingly. It can also be a bit difficult at times.

Overall rating: B+. The best game you’ll probably never get a chance to play. Gabriel Knight (another candidate) is the other. Serious compatibility issues with Windows XP and greater; I’ve never had much luck getting it to work. If anybody has, please share with the class so this wonderful game can be experienced by all. If it worked today, it’d be an A+.

Forgotten Classic: The 7th Guest

Cranking these out today! One more after this, then a break, while I think up more for the coming days (hey, Kevin won’t be around to post).

The 7th Guest

Trilobite (1993)

PC

Horror Adventure

Why it should be remembered: The first game ever to be sold strictly on CD; almost entirely full motion video. Predates Myst (which is ineligible for review as the game is still widely available in many formats).

Why it’s forgotten: Trilobite (notice a bit of a pattern here?) only really made two successful games: this one and the sequel 11th Hour (which I never finished or don’t remember finishing; the first one is better in any regard). The game is also very adult-oriented; it’s legitimate scary at times and there are steamy scenes of another nature. Most adults weren’t hardcore gamers at this time. I played it as a teenager, although a few years after the release.

Overall rating: B-. There’s not much replay value, and you can solve any puzzle but the last with the hint book at the very beginning. It’s visually stunning, even today, and it’s worth a look because of the atmosphere and story. However, I got it for free (local library used to loan PC games), and I can’t honestly say I’d pay to own it.

Forgotten Classics: Anachronox

Anachronox

ION Storm (2001)

PC

Role playing game

Why it should be remembered: One of the wittiest games I’ve played. Very dark humor, for the most part, with a wonderful story and cast of characters. The music is so engaging that I actually burned most of the songs onto a CD.

Why it’s forgotten: Two words: ION Storm. ION Storm made very successful games, among them the greatest PC game of all time (according to me). However, every game they made had huge delays and invariably ended up disappointing (helllllooooo Daikatana!) most fans. Anachronox also starts off a bit slowly, which can deter the casual gamer.

Overall rating: A+. It’s #5 on my all-time list of games. Click on the link above for more info!

Forgotten Classics: Thief – The Dark Project

Thief: The Dark Project

Looking Glass Studios (1998)

PC

First Person Shooter Sneaker

Why it should be remembered: Revolutionized first person shooters by forcing you to rely on stealth. Fascinating story, spawned a whole series, most of which suffered from not being the first one.

Why it’s forgotten: Looking Glass made really high quality games for a very brief time before closing, like the Ultima Underworld series, the Thief series, numerous flight simulators, and the System Shock series. I truly think the gaming world suffered after it closed. Most of the titles were fairly innovative, which is a good route for a smaller gaming company to go these days. Thief was also really difficult (the manual claimed there was no easy setting because if you need an easy setting, find another game) and inexplicably featured annoying levels with zombies.

Overall rating: C+. The game is memorable because it’s innovative. The zombie levels drove me absolutely nuts; I never finished the game because of it. The AI is also quite stupid at times.

Forgotten Classics: Phoenix

Phoenix

Taito (1980)

Atari 2600

Arcade Shooter

Why it should be remembered: The first real challenge to Space Invaders, in my estimation. The birds move much more randomly, and the mothership boss is a treat. Even better, some of them take more than one hit to kill!

Why it’s forgotten: Despite being republished in 2005 for various systems, it’s been since overshadowed by every game that came out after it. Plus, there are probably people reading this post who have never owned an Atari 2600.

Overall rating: B-. To a little kid in the late eighties, this was the height of awesome. I’m not sure it’d hold up well today for a hardcore gamer, although it might for the more casual gamers. It’s just hard to find these days.

In The Papers: A February Special

While I’m in China, I have no idea what my opportunities for posting will look like, so I am taking advantage of this situation to knock out a series of In the Papers articles I’ve been holding back.  One will appear each day, some more detailed than others, but hopefully many will be interesting to the readers.

Forgotten Classic: GUN

GUN

Activision (2005)

PC

First Person Shooter

Why it should be remembered: One of the very few modern games to take place in the Old West. Absolutely phenomenal voice cast (Thomas Jane, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Skerrit, Lance Henriksen), with a somewhat corny but still interesting story.

Why it’s forgotten: Graphics aren’t very exciting. The game is very short, and like many games, promised more than it could deliver.

Overall rating: B+. The game is somewhat unstable and crashes without warning, but it’s worth picking up, if for no other reason than the atmosphere and tremendous acting. Think Grand Theft Auto with horses and far fewer people (and rocket launchers… it is the Old West!)

Forgotten Classics: The Beginning

In light of my highly successful Reviews you can use [tm]! series, I’m adding a new one: Forgotten Classics. I’ll briefly profile classic video/computer games in a simple format:

Title

Publisher (Year)

Platform I played it on

Genre

Why it should be remembered

Why it’s forgotten

Overall rating

The idea is to get you to play older games you may have but have since ignored or discover new games that you’d never heard of. I openly accept any and all recommendations.

Here are the general criteria:

1. The game must be at least three years old.

2. If the game is widely available (i.e. at Wal-Mart, Target, or your favorite big box retailer), it’s not eligible (sorry Starcraft).

3. If a sports franchise is still active, it cannot qualify (therefore, no Madden, but High Heat would be okay).

4. I have to have played it.

If it’s already been in a Review you can use! I’ll link to it, but I’m going to avoid such games wherever possible, since most of them aren’t old enough.

First one is coming soon!

Congratulations, Saints!

Very entertaining Super Bowl. I know it’s a cliche, but the Saints wanted it more and proved it (or at least Sean Payton did). The Saints acted like there was no tomorrow by gambling (the onside kick at the start of the half was one of the most brilliant calls I’ve ever seen); the Colts seemed surprisingly restrained. Maybe they forgot the Super Bowl is the last game of the season. I picked the Saints and I’m glad I did, but I have the sneaking suspicion the better team didn’t necessarily win. The better coach did, but I’m not sure the better team did.