About the Author

Ichiro Kawachi is director of the Harvard Centre for Society and Health, and professor of social epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Bruce P. Kennedy is a social epidemiologist, formerly at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Reviews

Following up on studies like The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies, The Health of Nations: Why Inequality Is Harmful to Your Health is a timely summation of recent economic research that shows how extreme prosperity always comes at the expense of others' poverty and perhaps of one's own well-being. Ichiro Kawachi, director of the Harvard Center for Society and Health, and Harvard School of Public Health professor Bruce P. Kennedy focus on how (as any Buddhist will tell you) "merely wishing for more money seems to lead to unhappiness" and, looking internationally, ask "are we happier and healthier [as Americans] as a result of all our consumption and accumulation?" Their counterintuitive answer is a resounding "no."

"[An] extremely important and timely study." - AMARTYA SEN, WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS "A timely summation of recent economic research that shows how extreme prosperity always comes at the expense of others' poverty-- and perhaps of one's own well-being" - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY"