- Is economic growth good for us?
- Put another way, we know that growing the economy is good for business and for creating jobs.
- Given how wealth contributes to health on the personal, individual level, the case for economic growth might seem intuitive.
Economics and life expectancy
There is a reliable historical correlation between economic prosperity and trends in life expectancy, which is enough for many scholars to suggest that growth is generally a good thing. However, this is not to say that we can expect continued improvements in health whenever we see economic growth.
- As a political sociologist and epidemiologist, I understand health as a fundamentally political problem.
- I am not alone in this; scholars have connected politics to population health since ancient times.
Politics and economics
- The problem is that too many scholars have come forward with concerns that growth can be bad for our health.
- A classic sociological study published in 1897 found that suicide rates spike after sudden improvements in a society’s economic prosperity.
- There is also evidence that economic growth harms public health when governments do not plan for it carefully.
Priorities and population health
Arguably, many growing societies happen to be the same ones that invested in education and other beneficial infrastructures, which explains the correlation with health.
- By the same token we cannot expect better health to come from economic growth if the pursuit of growth ends up increasing income inequality.
- Nor can we expect better health after slashing budgets allocated to key priorities such as education or health care.
- And then there is the issue of how health is defined.
A better way to grow
- Such findings prompt the question of whether there is a better way to grow.
- For many researchers, the answer is obvious and the case for it clear: Yes.
- The takeaway here would seem to be that growth can be good for health.
Andrew C. Patterson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.