The “Opportunity” to Get Cancer

Art Carden has written a terrific article this morning on the huge economic progress we have made in the last 2 centuries. It’s “Conceived in Liberty or Conceived in Sin? Exploitation and Modern Prosperity,” Econlib, November 4, 2024.

One excerpt:

We are R.I.C.H.: Rich, Interconnected, Civilized, and Healthy. What does this mean?

First, I’m referring to those of us lucky enough to have won the geographical and historical lottery and who find ourselves in European countries or their offshoots like the United States and Canada. If you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance you’re among the richest 5% of people on earth and the richest 1% of people who have ever lived.

I’ve often pointed out in talks that the most valuable asset many Americans have, even if they own few tangible assets, is their U.S. citizenship.

Art also writes:

Today’s leading killers are diseases of old age and affluence like cancer, not pathogens or warfare. More people die of cancer because more people live long enough to get cancer.

That reminded me of what the late Aaron Wildavsky and his son Adam Wildavsky wrote in “Risk and Safety” in David R. Henderson, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics:

On the other side of the ledger, cancer deaths continue to rise, though their increase has slowed, and deaths from major cardiovascular diseases remain high.Why these discrepancies? Cancer is largely a disease of old age. When people died at roughly half the present life expectancy, they died before they had an opportunity, if one may call it that, to get cancer.

Note: The pic above is of Aaron Wildavsky.