Chapter 6
Education and Health
The question of education and health in relation to economic growth can be
confused, not by the issue of causality, where the evidence is relatively clear,
but by means and ends. There is clear evidence that education and health both
cause and are caused by economic growth. This is good news for policy-
makers, as promoting education is likely to have a positive impact on
economic growth and so provide the resources for governments and house-
holds to further expand education (as well as incentives to do so if the growth
creates well-paid jobs that require a good standard of education). Society can
float upwards on a virtuous circle of education and rising incomes. However,
the opposite is also true. Poor education and slow economic growth could
become locked together in a vicious embrace.
This chapter notes some of the research that shows both education and
health are important meansto promote economic growth. A healthy and
educated labour force will raise labour productivity, attract FDI and facilitate
the diffusion of new technologies. Education and health are also desirable
endsof development. Education is linked to the ability to participate in a
literate society, to personal empowerment and to the ability to live a life that
one values. Health, freedom from repeated morbidity and pain, and an
extended life expectancy are self-evidently good things. The link between
health and education as proximate determinants of growth and as measures
of wider aspects of development give them a centrality in debates about
economic development. However, some scholars feel there can be conflicts
between the means and the ends. Education focused on personal fulfilment
(art or philosophy) may not be the best at promoting economic growth (engi-
neering, numeracy, literacy). There is also the question of education for
whom? Perhaps the promotion of economic growth needs a few highly
educated scientists rather than mass literacy? And what if people utilize a
first-rate education to work in a job that is personally profitable but socially
destructive – the accusation made against many bankers and hedge fund
managers in the last few years? The questions and answers are complicated
and many of them are introduced in this chapter.