The United States spends more on healthcare than any other nation—in absolute terms, as a percentage of gross domestic product, and per capita. Nevertheless, it has problems of access and quality, which pose problems for patients, providers, payers, and policymakers. Those in rural areas, inner cities, and Native American communities face special challenges of access, as do linguistic minorities and residents of particular states and regions.

As 2021’s last quarter approaches, some key economic data are smiling on the country. Estimates for real GDP growth for the second quarter are hitting 6.6 percent. Indeed, the pace of growth has now completely lifted the economy out of the pandemic hole that developed in 2020. The country is where it was when the pandemic-generated collapse started, at least as measured by GDP. Even better, and as shown in table 1, three major estimates suggest that the year’s last quarter will be okay, but 2022 prospects are considerably dimmer. As to be expected, the effects of massive stimulus spending do eventually wear out.

Is immigration a boon for the US economy or the opposite? Robert Krol addresses the issue in “Immigration and US Labor Market Outcomes.” He finds that receiving immigrants results in a large net gain to the country and that, from an economic perspective, expanding immigration would be a desirable policy reform.

Racial politics is the overwhelming obsession of the moment, and it often seems as if it has eclipsed everything else. This narrow focus is lamented by the more old-fashioned folks on the left, who still think that the “class struggle” and anti-capitalism should be the main focus of politics. For example, some of the most trenchant criticism of The New York Times’ 1619 Project came from the Worldwide Socialist Web Site. It revealed an internecine battle in which the Marxist old left tried to regain the high ground seized by a race-obsessed new left.