The EconomistJuly 13th 2019 Business 65I
n a. dickson wright’s“Quacks Through the Ages”, a study pub-
lished in 1957, the “outstanding quack of all times” was James
Graham, an 18th-century Scottish doctor who conceived mystical
cures for all sorts of ailments using fiery electric lamps, magnets
and perfumes of the Orient. The centrepiece of his Temple of
Health in London was a celestial bed that he claimed could combat
sterility and produce perfect babies by pouring out waves of mag-
netism. High society flocked to his events, which had an air of
eroticism and culminated in the scantily clad appearance of the
Goddess of Health—none other than the future Lady Hamilton. He
may have been an impostor, but Graham deserves special rever-
ence at The Economist. His magnetic love bed lay adjacent to the
site of our current headquarters overlooking the Thames.
Once again miracle cures are all the rage, not just in London but
all around the world. Electric currents are out of fashion, replaced
by yoga boot camps, meditation and veganism. To immerse him-
self, Schumpeter hauled his flabby body to Taryn Toomey’s The
Class in New York, which invites its sometimes a-list, mostly fe-
male clientele to “witness their resistance to discomfort” by leap-
ing around on a mat to thumping music. He threw his shoulders,
sweat, spit and howls of agony and ecstasy about with the best of
them, and felt quite brilliant afterwards. Ms Toomey’s mix of Dyo-
nisian priestess and soothing guru helped. So, no doubt, did the
underfloor crystals.
Welcome to the cult of wellness, a phenomenon of mind-and-
body worship that is moving beyond the boutique to shake up in-
dustries from health, food and beauty to insurance and property.
pwc, a consultancy, estimates that what it calls the market for
“wellcare”, incorporating preventive health, nutrition, fitness and
beauty, was worth $810bn last year.
Is it just modern-day quackery, a hankering for any life-pro-
longing quicksilver, however unscientific and unorthodox? There
have been alleged frauds—consider Theranos, a Silicon Valley firm
founded by the silver-tongued Elizabeth Holmes, which raised
more than $1bn to promote a blood-testing device which was later
found to produce flawed results (a court case begins next year).
Some in the industry say they blend science with age-old heal-
ing methods. Take Gwyneth Paltrow, a Hollywood star, with her“psychic vampire repellents” and “Goop-approved lubes”.
Big business is lunging into action. In the pharmaceuticals in-
dustry, gskis merging its consumer-health businesses with that of
Pfizer, a big rival, to create a $12.7bn powerhouse to take advantage
of the trend for over-the-counter self-care (think headache tab-
lets), as opposed to prescription drugs. Nestlé and Danone, Euro-
pean food giants, are increasingly mindful of selling healthier fare.
Brazil’s direct-sales cosmetics firm, Natura, has just agreed to ac-
quire Avon Products, its 133-year-old London-based rival, to
strengthen its grip on the door-to-door beauty business. cvs, an
American pharmacy chain, hopes to install 1,500 “Healthhubs” by
the end of 2021, including “care concierges”, dieticians and yoga
rooms, to monitor people’s wellness and save on the hospital bills
for its newly acquired insurance company, Aetna. Life insurers
such as 156-year-old John Hancock in America are tying their poli-
cies to the use of fitness-tracking devices. In Asia life-insurance
companies are offering policyholders health-care tips.
Asset markets are perking up, too. Todd Caruso of cbre, a prop-
erty firm, says large gyms are replacing department stores as the
anchor tenants in shopping malls. By far the most sizzling initial
public offering (ipo) of the year has been that of Beyond Meat,
which makes healthy plant-based burgers; its shares have soared
sixfold since May 1st. Peloton, which sells exercise bikes to the
well-heeled, last month filed confidential documents for an ipo.
Smart money, then, appears to be flowing with the endorphins.
But there are other reasons to take the latest trend seriously. In
health, prevention is better than cure. Yet for most of the 20th cen-
tury, sickness was prioritised over wellness. Private health was
mostly a business-to-business enterprise, involving hospitals, in-
surers, drug firms and employers. Patients needed lots of, well, pa-
tience. Adverts for fatty foods were interspersed with those for fat-
busting medicines, fuelling a sickness culture. Surgeons were pil-
lars of society, herbalists the loony fringe. The health-care
provider, not the customer, was always right.
Today, the customers are taking back control. This may be be-
cause they are sick of the over-stretched health-care system, can-
not afford it, can use the internet to self-diagnose and are more
aware of the dangers of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity and
stress. It may also be because they are more body-obsessed, on ac-
count of Instagramming, even while doing the Downward Dog.
Business trends are encouraging the shift. The lines between
industries such as Big Pharma and Big Food are blurring—witness
the growth of nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals. Globalisation is
fusing cultures. Mindfulness comes from Buddhism. The 3,000-
year-old Indian tradition of Ayurvedic balance between mind,
body and spirit is popular among Delhi’s yuppies. Turmeric lattes
are sipped by Brooklyn hipsters. And through it all runs technol-
ogy: fitness, stress-relief and health apps are now central to the
growth of wearable devices such as smart watches.If it quacks like a duck
The bigger the business of mind and body becomes, the more
likely it will be regulated and quality-controlled. That is a good
thing. But watch out for impostors. A recent study suggests there is
no evidence vitamins or minerals slow cognitive decline or de-
mentia—despite what is often claimed on the tin. Health apps
have the potential to misuse data, exacerbate eating disorders and
keep people permanently on a treadmill. As society ages, the pro-
mise of eternal youth becomes all the more seductive. When you
are invited to a Temple of Health, think twice before entering. 7Schumpeter The business of the body
Capitalists are worshipping at the temple of wellness