Apr 14 2008
Recession: good for your health?
Published by Jason Welker at 12:04 am under
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WikipediaRecession may be bad for your income, employment and level of consumption, but it might be just what you need to get yourself into better shape! Turns out when times are tough economically, Americans are at their healthiest. Listen to this short conversation:
What do you think? Is this ridiculous or is there really something to it?
About the author: Jason Welker is a teacher at Zurich International School in Switzerland, where he teaches Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Economics. Jason was an international school student in Malaysia before studying economics at Seattle University then earning his Masters in Education. He calls Seattle and Northern Idaho home. In addition to maintaining an economics wiki and this blog for economics student and educators, Jason also gives presentations on using Web 2.0 tools in education at workshops and conferences around the world. His economics wiki won the 2007 "Best Educational Wiki" award from the "EduBlog Awards". 
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Yeah, I read this before. Please note it is not as if this type of research is without controversy. This research topic started way back in the 1920s with Dorothy Thomas. Since then each time this topic comes up, usually by economists (wouldn’t you know it?) or other type of macro-data analysts, it’s been debated.
It is not that economic upturns are good for your health either, but, tell a man who lives in the inner city, who just lost his job during an economic down-turn or a recession that the hard-times he’s enduring are good for his health and see what he says.
It’s sort of middle-class research by profs who’s trying to make a name for themselves in publish or perish academia.
Ann, thanks… good points too! I agree the research is a bit ridiculous, and of course you’re right that on a micro level a recession is not good for individuals who suffer from it. But as economists do, I think the researcher here is speaking in terms of aggregates, on a macro level, and showing a correlation between economic downturns and overall improvements in health. This is certainly no consolation to someone who’s lost their job and can’t pay their mortgage… simply an observation of the macro effect of recessions on the nation’s overall health.
Thanks again for the comment!