ABSTRACT
Economic growth was virtually non-existent for long parts of human history. Global economic growth began with industrialization, and industrialization began in Britain. This chapter focuses on Britain with a tacit understanding that the significance of the developments subsequently went far beyond the economic development of the British Isles. Just like the health benefits people enjoy as a result of economic growth and more funds available for public and private health expenditures today cannot be separated from the health burdens experienced by people working during periods of rapid economic expansion, they cannot be separated from the health burdens suffered by Amerindians and African slaves of former centuries. The economic growth gained through industrialization has brought important health gains to millions of people, who have been able to enjoy the benefits of sanitation, high living standards, as well as of vaccinations and drugs borne from medical research.
