Most read Realitybase posts in February

The American Dream died in February 1973. With graphs showing stagnation of inflation-adjusted middle class incomes since the 1970s after strong and steady post-WWII growth. This post got about 1,000 views from a Reddit referral. 

The Dysfunction and Corruption of Our Healthcare System, Its Damage to the National Economy and other Basic Healthcare Matters (Guest Post) Describing a system that is destroying global competitiveness of American business, that violates fundamental insurance risk principles, and that has inherent conflicts of interest preventing quality national health care delivery and cost efficiency; and proposing a solution.

American Exceptionalism, shake hands with Inconvenient Facts. Presenting data, and links to other data, showing USA ranks near the bottom of 30 OECD nations by a wide variety of middle class metrics including health, family, education, income, wealth, leisure, freedom and democracy, public order and safety, generosity, and access to internet and wireless technology.

What's killing American females? A recent study shows that Americans rank last in life expectancy in a group of 21 high-income countries, that American females are falling behind much faster than American males, and that Americans rank near the bottom in almost all causes of death. Several charts.

The Citigroup Plutonomy Memos With key quotations from documents that are being disappeared. This post has been the #1 response to a Google search for "plutonomy memo."

U.S. aircraft carrier and 15 other Navy ships sunk in the Strait of Hormuz in 5-10 minutes Results of US war games when attacked by large numbers of speed boats and missiles such as Iran has in the hands of Revolutionary Guards reputed to be "cowboys," and suggesting still other ways we might accidentally get into a war with Iran.

While Some Cities Conquer Economic Issues with High Tech Masters Programs, Others Struggle. (Guest Post) Education researcher Bree Hernandez says there is projected to be good jobs growth for STEM graduates but these jobs are destined to be concentrated geographically. She suggests that low-tech communities can improve their chances of becoming technology hubs by establishing STEM programs in local colleges and universities.

The Recession is Coming! The Recession is Coming! December 2007 post with charts showing America's middle class had been in recession for 7 years and asking if we really care.

The history of US per-capita petroleum consumption will surprise you.  A graph and other data show US per-capita consumption of petroleum is down substantially from the 1970s, has been very stable since 1983 because of CAFE standards, and has fluctuated only slightly with retail price changes.

American Youth: Digitally Skilled and Unemployable. A graph shows that Americans under 25, who presumably are the most familiar with digital technology, are losing employment share to those over 55, who presumably are least at home in the digital age. This counterintuitive trend started long before the Great Recession.