What Do You Have to Lose?

In 2016, Donald Trump asked voters a simple, provocative question: "What do you have to lose?" It was meant as rhetorical bait, but what happens when you treat that question as a measurable, scientific hypothesis? Spanning four decades, eleven presidential elections, and the lives of four American generations, this book puts our deepest partisan divides to the ultimate test. By comparing the hard data of consistently Republican-leaning states against Democratic-leaning ones, a stark and uncompromising portrait of the American landscape emerges. This isn't about political opinions, identity politics, or cable news talking points. It is about the undeniable metrics of human wellbeing—health, security, education, and economic survival. How do our collective worldviews directly shape our life expectancy, our safety, and our prosperity? The numbers reveal a deeply fractured nation where the consequences of the ballot box are quite literally a matter of life and death. You might think you know which side of the political aisle delivers a better quality of life, but the unvarnished truth is waiting in the numbers. Step inside the data and find out exactly what you have to lose.

Iraj Zandi is Professor Emeritus of System & National Center Professor of Resource Management and Technology School of Engineering and Applied Science & The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania zandi@seas.upenn.edu