Longevity still increasing in the US

In 2010, the age-adjusted death rate for the United States was 746.2 per 100,000 population.  Take a look at this chart that shows age adjusted death rates by state:

Notice how the highest rates are clustered in the Southeast.



Here is a chart of age specific death rates:

Infant mortality is improving (going down):

These charts were produced by the CDC.

US energy source mix

It's notable how nuclear power has increased from near zero in the early 1970's.  Heating your home with wood is still fairly common in older homes in areas where timber is widely available like the Pacific Northwest. 

Both charts are from Energy in the United States at Wikipedia.  Now that natural gas is relatively inexpensive, it is gaining share in energy generation particularly as a replacement for coal.

The costs of nuclear are understated because of failure to include waste handling costs.  Spent fuel is expensive to deal with and no long term solution has been agreed upon.

Three key factors point to GDP weakness

Household debt, labor force participation rate, and government spending all trend down with the exception of some increase in debt recently.  With both government spending and labor force shrinking, it's hard to see where GDP growth might come from.  Household debt has likely plateaued after the recent increase.  After all income is needed for consumers to support debt.

Twenty years of trade deficits

Here is a chart from the trusty FRED database at the FRB:

The US has run a trade deficit since the beginning of the Clinton administration.  The passage of NAFTA and allowing China to have permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status in P.L. 106-286, which President Clinton signed into law in October 2000 facilitated China’s accession to the WTO in December 2000 and contributed significantly to the deficit.  The big explosion in US trade deficits with China occurred after accession to the WTO.

It appears that Ross Perot's prediction of job losses after passage of NAFTA, along with preferred trade status for China, was accurate.

Movie ticket price trend

Here is a chart of average movie ticket prices in the US; from data found at BoxOffice Mojo:

Prices were going down in the early 1990's and have now flattened out.