Synopses & Reviews
Nobel laureate Robert Fogel's compelling new study examines health, nutrition and technology from 1700 to 2100. Although throughout most of human history, chronic malnutrition has been the norm, a synergy between improvements in productive technology and human physiology has enabled humans to more than double their average longevity and to increase their body size by over fifty percent over the past three centuries. Larger, healthier humans have contributed to the acceleration of economic growth and technological change, resulting in reduced economic inequality, declining hours of work and a corresponding increase in leisure time. Increased longevity has also brought increased demand for health care. Fogel argues that health care should be viewed as the growth industry of the twenty-first century and systems of financing it should be reformed. His book will be essential reading for all interested in economics, demography, history and health care policy. A professor at the University of Chicago, Robert William Fogel has taught at the University of Rochester, Cambridge University, and Harvard University. He has received numerous awards and prizes for his work, including the Arthur C. Cole Prize (1968), the Schumpeter Prize (1971), the Bancroft Prize (1975), the Gustavus Myers Prize (1990), and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science (1993). Previous books include Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery (W.W. Norton & Company, 1994) and The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism (The University of Chicago Press, 2000).
Review
"If economic history is to fulfill the promise inherent in its subject matter, it must add the dimension of time to economics. Bob Fogel's pathbreaking study does just that and in doing so not only revises our understanding of the past but provides a thoughtful guide to policy in the future." Douglas C. North, Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics, Washington University in St. Louis"In his usual comprehensive and perceptive way, Professor Fogel has assembled and synthesized a vast set of data which bring out the radical transformation of human health and longevity. He has set this work in the context of general economic growth and has shown the inadequacy of the usual measures of growth. He also calls attention to the changes in the economic system implied by the growing importance of health expenditures and their benefits." Kenneth J. Arrow, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Stanford University"This brief and engaging volume is sweeping in scope yet rich in detail. In it, Fogel offers an original and provocative interpretation of changes in nutrition, health, economic growth, and our daily activities, drawing on two decades of his historical research to create a distinctive vision of our future." Ronald Lee, Professor of Demography and Economics, University of California at Berkeley"For over four decades, Professor Fogel has painstakingly unearthed evidence on the various conditions of human suffering, and on the pathways by which people have been able to emerge out of their suffering. This book, the result of many years of labor, explains Europe's escape from hunger and malnutrition in the modern era. His findings have enormous implications for regions where people have not yet been able to escape. This is social science at its noblest and best." Sir Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics, University of Cambridge
Synopsis
Nobel laureate Robert Fogel's compelling new study examines health, nutrition and technology over the last three centuries and beyond. Chronic malnutrition is one reason why people in the past had smaller, weakerbodies and lived shorter lives than people do today. When better agriculture began to produce more food, people began to get bigger, healthier and to live longer. This process has contributed to economic growth and technological progress. Professor Fogel's powerful study will be essential reading for all those interested in economics, demography, history and health care policy.
Synopsis
Nobel laureate Robert Fogel examines health, nutrition and technology over the last three centuries.
Synopsis
'This is a compelling new study from Nobel laureate Robert Fogel, examining health, nutrition and technology over the last three centuries and beyond. It will be essential reading for all those interested in economics, demography, history and health care policy.\n
'
About the Author
ROBERT WILLIAM FOGEL won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1993. He is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions in the Graduate School of Business and Director of the Center for Population Economics in the University of Chicago. His numerous publications include Time on the Cross: The Economics of Negro Slavery (with Stanley L. Engerman) and The Fourth Great Awakening and the Futureof Egalitarianism.
Table of Contents
List of figures; List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. The persistence of misery in Europe before 1900; 2. Why the twentieth century was remarkable; 3. Tragedies and miracles in the Third World; 4. Prospects for the twenty-first century; 5. Problems of equity in health care; Postscript: how long can we live?; Appendix; Glossary of technical terms; Biographical notes; References.