Nobel laureate Robert Fogel�s compelling new study examines health, nutrition and technology over the last three
centuries and beyond. Throughout most of human history, chronic malnutrition has been the norm. During the past
three centuries, however, a synergy between improvements in productive technology and in human physiology has enabled
humans to more than double their average longevity and to increase their body size by over fifty percent. 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.