Health, Government, and Irving Fisher
Abstract
This paper provides a few historical notes on government involvement in health, followed by a summary of the theoretical arguments that economists offer in its support. Irving Fisher's views and recommendations about health are examined in the light of today's perceptions concerning health, health economics, and health policy. The wide variety of roles that the U.S. and other governments currently play in health is reviewed and the ability of economics to explain these roles is assessed. The consequences of government involvement for the health of populations, for expenditures on health care, and for political and social stability are examined. The paper concludes with an overview of new worldwide trends in health policy and some probable explanations for these trends.Download Info
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 6710.Length:
Date of creation: Aug 1998
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:6710
Note: HE
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Related research
Keywords:Find related papers by JEL classification:
- I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-PUB-1998-08-31 (Public Finance)
References
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National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- James M. Poterba, 1995. "Government Intervention in the Markets for Education and Health Care: How and Why?," NBER Working Papers 4916, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Craig William Perry & Harvey S. Rosen, 2001.
"The Self-Employed are Less Likely to Have Health Insurance Than Wage Earners. So What?,"
NBER Working Papers
8316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Craig W. Perry & Harvey S. Rosen, 2001. "The Self-Employed Are Less Likely To Have Health Insurance Than Wage Earners: So What?," Working Papers 129, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
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