Does a Poor Economy Improve Public Health?

Guest: Christopher Ruhm
Host: Larry Kaskel, MD

One would think that the health of the nation would suffer during an economic downturn. But strange as it may seem, bad times can be good for the health of entire societies. Forgetting about individual health, Christopher Ruhm, professor of economics, explains the results of his study that showed that during a recession, traffic accidents, obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking and even deaths from heart disease go down. Professor Ruhm discusses these counterintuitive results with host Dr. Larry Kaskel, which also shows this interesting relationship between the health of an economy and its population.