June 16, 2005
Life-enhancing
Kevin Murphy and Robert Topel of the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business have an intriguing new paper on the value of health and longevity:
The historical gains from increased longevity have been enormous. Over the 20th century, cumulative gains in life expectancy were worth over $1.2 million per person for both men and women. Between 1970 and 2000 increased longevity added about $3.2 trillion per year to national wealth, an uncounted value equal to about half of average annual GDP over the period. Reduced mortality from heart disease alone has increased the value of life by about $1.5 trillion per year since 1970.
Murphy and Topel note that the potential gains from future healthcare innovations could be vast—for example, a 1% reduction in cancer mortality would be worth nearly $500 billion.
This is from the abstract; the entire PDF-format paper can be downloaded for $5 from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Posted by Stephen at 12:05 AM in Economics | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
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