These two volumes bring together important and influential articles and papers on different aspects of the history of health and welfare. The collection includes classic and more recent essays on the origins and nature of mortality decline; the early-life origins of adult health and disease;...

One of the most important debates among health economists in rich nations is whether advances in biotechnology will spare their health care systems from a financial crisis. We must consider that prevalence rates of chronic diseases declined during the twentieth century and that this rate of...