Standard measures of economic performance in the United States focus on the level and distribution of per capita income at a given point in time and how these indicators change in constant dollar terms over time. While economic indicators correlate well with a number of other variables, few would claim that per capita income and its distribution alone capture all of the significant dimensions of economic and social activity. We report here some other indicators on socio-economic conditions in the United States that correlate in varying degrees with the prevailing level of per capita income and its distribution.

The scholastic aptitude test, or SAT, was created initially to predict the likely performance of first and second year college students. While it still explains some of the variance in initial college and university outcomes, it is a far from perfect measure. Worse yet, some use it as a surrogate measure of intelligence, a function for which it was never designed to serve. For its original function, there may be a ray of hope insofar as the once pattern of declining scores may now be ending. Possible explanations: test preparation services thrive more than ever; people have begun to change some of their eating habits; intellectual curiosity may be more fashionable than it once was; television game shows requiring some degree of factual knowledge may be crowding out laugh-track sitcoms; Americans are finally getting embarrassed over how other countries do so well on international achievement examinations; sports fanaticism may be reaching its limits; secondary schools are raising achievement standards for promotion and graduation.

As the number of televisionchannels proliferate, the number of daily viewing hours may have peaked. If more time is devoted to intellectual pursuits, achievement test score may rise. To make any sense of this, we would have to sort out what kinds of programs increase our vocabulary and analytical reasoning skills.

What about books? An increase in per capita book purchases may strengthen literacy rates and analytical reasoning skills. Whether this is true, however, depends on what people actually read. To the extent that book purchases comprise supermarket paperback novels or coffee table picture books, we may not see much of an impact from books on intellectual achievement. Furthermore, book purchases do not correlate perfectly with the number of hours devoted to reading. Some people like having books around them even though they have little intention of actually reading them. Check out the sales records of leatherbound deluxe book editions as a percentage of per capita book purchases before proceeding further with this one.

Does culture have something to do with intelligence? Maybe, except that few can agree on a common definition of culture. If one adopts attendance at symphony orchestra performances, at opera performances, and at live theater performances, many would claim this as a form of cultural snobbery. Don't the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, and Shania Twain count as part of the culture? Some live performance events may not contribute directly to verbal and quantitative skills, yet they may create a necessary degree of relaxation that can lead to better performance in other areas.

What about sports? Do people spend too much time watching sports events and too little time increasing their intellectual capital? The answer here is at least twofold: first, it depends on what kind of sport you are watching since some require greater skill in execution and enjoyment than others; and second, Americans may look like sports fanatics only until you watch what other countries do to win the World Soccer Cup. It is said that when historically successful teams from countries such as Brazil, Italy, or Germany enter the finals, the world's Gross Domestic Product may actually go down during game time.

Health is usually measured by life expectancy. The United States does not rank first in terms of global life expectancy, even though it ranks first in the PPP (purchasing power parity) measure of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, there are signs that Americans may be doing some things that will improve life expectancy. Alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption rates have some bearing on life expectancy, as do diet, exercise, schooling, and life style. Here are some basic health indicators for the United States.

What about drug use? Per capita consumption of alcohol has declined, as has heroin, and cocaine use may have peaked and may now be on the decline. On the other hand, hallucinogen use, which also declined, may once again be on the rise, as is the steady increase in marijuana. To the extent that overall drug use is on the rise, performance at work suffers, although increases in U.S. labor productivity suggest that something else may be happening. In terms of markets, a peak in cocaine consumption may hurt Colombian exporters,while a rise in marijuana may explain some of the increase in per capita income in producing states such as California.

In the United States, as elsewhere, the traditional nuclear family seems to be in a process of disintegration. A rising percentage of children are reared in single parent or non-traditional households. Some contend that this leads to lower performance in schools, in jobs, and in society. While the reasons for changing patterns of U.S. households are complex, the U.S. is not alone in this experience, as data from other industrialized countries affirms. We look here at some basic indicators of family structure, and associated measures of poverty that non-traditional child rearing institutions may produce.

As single parenthood increases, so too does the proportion of unmarried women births. While the non-white women unmarried birth rate has historically been in excess of the white women unmarried birth rate, the non-white rate may have peaked while the white rate continues to rise. Research indicates that dropout rates are higher and academic achievement rates are lower for single parent households in comparison to dual parent households. Thus, household structure bears on academic achievement, and in turn, on poverty and income levels.

Criminal activity has any number of causes, of which poverty may be but one determinant. Crime rates, which have lately peaked and begun a period of relative decline, are influenced by the age distribution of the population, by the nature of the criminal justice system, and by incentive structures that discourage anti-social behavior, of which the certainty and consistency of punishment is one consideration.