ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an overview of some of the economic issues affecting healthcare systems to provide broad picture of the context in which nursing care is delivered. The wider political context that shapes the economics of healthcare is referred to as political economy of healthcare. Neoliberal policies within healthcare manifest in many ways such as the privatisation of health assets including hospitals, view that health is commodity rather than social good, and the transforming of government health providers into commissioning groups. Globalisation is the application of neoliberal policies in the international arena to allow free circulation of capital, goods, services and labour across world. The global economic crisis, or global recession, originated in the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in US, and led to the collapse of financial institutions and subsequent bailouts by governments. One of the biggest challenges for the healthcare system is the ageing population and the associated increase in healthcare costs for people as they age.
