DOES A LONGER LIFE MEAN A HIGHER INCOME?

DOES A LONGER LIFE MEAN A HIGHER INCOME? Obviously, it does. Economists make income comparisons, as difficult as they are, all the time. Including life expectancy in these comparisons is so difficult that the attempt is not often made. Yet the differences in life expectancy among countries now and in the recent past are enormous. A related difficulty occurs in discussions of health care “inflation.” Average life expectancy in the United States is still increasing. Higher health care expenditures are in part resulting in longer and healthier lives. Yet increases in health care costs are usually treated as pure inflation.