Case 1 Lecture EH
Learning objectives:
What is economics and what are key economic concepts?
What is health economics and health care economics?
What are the recent developments and the future of health economics?
Economics: study of how people make decisions given the resources, scarce resources that are
provided to them. Study how a whole society uses it resources. Economics is thus concerned with
allocation of scarce resources among competing demands.
Economists study society and the choices that people make. Also what are the most efficient choices.
Economists:
Explain how our economic system works
Forecast the future of our economy
Suggest way to make the future even better
All resources have an opportunity cost (=cost of the best alternative option)
Scarcity: is the idea that we cannot have everything we want, there some limits. Is related to the
tension between unlimited needs and limited possibilities to fulfil those needs
Limits: due to scarce resources (such as too little money so you are forced to chose between)
Examples of scarce resources:
Money: you can never have enough money to buy everything you want so you are forced to
choose between certain things; buy a laptop or new clothes for example
Time: you cannot do things at the same time. You can do one after the other but there is
never enough time to do anything
Health economics:
Applied field of economics
Studies the choices/behaviour of individuals, health care providers, public and private
organizations and governments in health decision making
Study of how scarce resources are allocated to and within the healthcare system
Example question within this field: how much money should the government spend on
healthcare?
Health care economics:
The subject of analysis is the health (medical) care industry not health
Health care influences health but also other commodities including nutrition, sanitation,
leisure time etc
Arrow 1963: birth of health economics
Health economics is different from normal economics:
1
Learning objectives:
What is economics and what are key economic concepts?
What is health economics and health care economics?
What are the recent developments and the future of health economics?
Economics: study of how people make decisions given the resources, scarce resources that are
provided to them. Study how a whole society uses it resources. Economics is thus concerned with
allocation of scarce resources among competing demands.
Economists study society and the choices that people make. Also what are the most efficient choices.
Economists:
Explain how our economic system works
Forecast the future of our economy
Suggest way to make the future even better
All resources have an opportunity cost (=cost of the best alternative option)
Scarcity: is the idea that we cannot have everything we want, there some limits. Is related to the
tension between unlimited needs and limited possibilities to fulfil those needs
Limits: due to scarce resources (such as too little money so you are forced to chose between)
Examples of scarce resources:
Money: you can never have enough money to buy everything you want so you are forced to
choose between certain things; buy a laptop or new clothes for example
Time: you cannot do things at the same time. You can do one after the other but there is
never enough time to do anything
Health economics:
Applied field of economics
Studies the choices/behaviour of individuals, health care providers, public and private
organizations and governments in health decision making
Study of how scarce resources are allocated to and within the healthcare system
Example question within this field: how much money should the government spend on
healthcare?
Health care economics:
The subject of analysis is the health (medical) care industry not health
Health care influences health but also other commodities including nutrition, sanitation,
leisure time etc
Arrow 1963: birth of health economics
Health economics is different from normal economics:
1
