Article dans une revue: Health economics is driven by its applications to improve the health and well-being of individuals, people, and places. Health economists are intellectual descendants of 19th century meliorists (Bentham & Bowring, 1843) who believed that: (1) coordinated human activity could improve well-being and (2) scientific research to find causal connections between policies and human well-being is an important ingredient in ameliorative policy change.