"The term "home economics" may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken cakes. But obscured by common conception is the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and providing jobs as professors, engineers, chemists, and businesspeople that were otherwise foreclosed. In The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger...

One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr. Makary shows how so much of health care spending goes to things that have nothing to do with health and what you can do about it. Dr. Makary challenges the medical establishment to remember medicine's noble heritage of caring for people when they are vulnerable. The Price We Pay offers a roadmap for everyday Americans...

For decades, experts have puzzled over why the US spends more on health care but suffers poorer outcomes than other industrialized nations. Bradley and Taylor marshal extensive research, including a comparative study of health care data from thirty countries, and get to the root of this paradox: We've left out of our tally the most impactful expenditures countries make to improve the health of their populations: investments in social services.

Based on data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2012 Consumer Expenditure Survey, this report examines how much American households spend on hundreds of products and services, all organized by demographics. It discusses who is buying what, and how much they spend. Also included in this edition is a comparison of spending trends before and after the Great Recession.