From the Editor

The First Wealth

"The first wealth is health,” American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in 1860.Â

Emerson’s quote, cited by Harvard economist and health expert David E. Bloom in this issue’s lead article, reminds us that good health is the foundation on which to build—a life, a community, an economy.Â

Humanity

has made great strides, developing vaccines

and medical techniques that allow us to live longer, healthier

lives. Other developments—such as increased access to clean

water and sanitation—have helped beat back long-standing

ills and pave the way for better health.

But the story is not one of endless progress. As we went to

press, the world was dealing with the worst outbreak of the

Ebola virus on record, a grim reminder of our vulnerability

and of the distance yet to go. And, though not often the subject

of headlines, the great disparities in health—evident, for

example, in the a 38-year gap in life expectancy between Japan

(83 years) and Sierra Leone (45 years)—raise issues of equity

and point to the need to press forward on multiple fronts.

In

this issue, we've assembled a lineup of accomplished

authors to look at global health from a variety of angles. They

look at today's health systems—the amalgam of people, practices,

rules, and institutions that serve the health needs of a

population—and at the economics behind them.

In his broad-ranging article, Bloom underscores the role good health plays in an individual’s or household’s ability to rise, or...