Anthropocene Health Economics: Preparing for the Journey or the Destination?

This chapter considers the implications of different ecological macroeconomic models for health and health care - "green growth", the "steady state" economy, and "degrowth". It considers health care policy under no-growth conditions (steady state or degrowth), overconsumption in health care, and areas in which health economics will need to adapt to better meet the needs of the Anthropocene era. It considers the challenge of improving the health of the world's poorest people in a post-growth era of ecological constraints. It concludes by discussing the real risk of involuntary degrowth (or collapse), and suggests some institutional measures for health care systems which might provide some protection against the worst impacts of involuntary degrowth.