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Society, Health and Policy

In: The Political Economy of Health Care

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  • David Reisman

Abstract

A priori there is no reason to think that the sensible community will necessarily opt for State in preference to market as the force that propels the process of equalisation down the chosen middle road. On the contrary; since there will in truth be no shortage of concerned democrats with a commitment to laissez-faire capitalism and a belief in equilibration through search who will make the point that equalisation in health is better achieved through economic growth than ever it can be through political directive. Economic growth means that no worker need be forced by poverty to take risks with his health; rising living standards are correlated with improved formal education and an embourgeoisement of cultural patterns; higher productivity-earnings open the door to better nutrition and pave the way to better housing; increasing affluence brings health insurance and medical attention within the choice-set of all who are in paid employment; and thus does economic growth cause an upgrading in the health status of the absolutely deprived which is none the less real for being unplanned and undirected. That upgrading is an improvement in health status, but it is an equalisation as well: the marginal rate of improvement being more rapid for the absolutely deprived than normally it is for the relatively privileged, it is likely to be one of the welcome byproducts of economic growth that health-gaps are narrowed even as health-levels are raised.

Suggested Citation

  • David Reisman, 1993. "Society, Health and Policy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Political Economy of Health Care, chapter 4, pages 57-86, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-37830-8_4
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230378308_4
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