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Article: Irving Fisher and the contribution of improved longevity to living standards.
- Article from:
- The American Journal of Economics and Sociology
- Article date:
- January 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Blackwell Publishers Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Introduction
AMONG IRVING FISHER'S many contributions to economics, one that is little noted and scarcely remembered is his emphasis on the economic importance of health. For the most part, his concern was in promoting healthy lifestyles. In addition, he made an early (perhaps the earliest) estimate of the impact of mortality and morbidity on national output.
This essay considers the question of how measures of economic welfare might change if they included measures of health status as well as of conventional consumption. The surprising finding is that inclusion of improvements in health status would, over the 20th century in the United ...