What is a Wellbeing Economy, and what might its impact be on population health?

Abstract

The current polycrisis (intersecting and mutually-reinforcing crises that are impacting our ecological, social, and economic systems) has foregrounded the need to transform economies to put them in service of people and planet, rather than design them in pursuit of ever more economic growth. This approach, termed a Wellbeing Economy, is the subject of considerable policy interest and could have substantial impacts on population health if widely implemented. We discuss different interpretations of similar terms for economic systems and how these interpretations imply incremental reforms to the dominant capitalist model, or a radical break in economic design. We detail routes to a Wellbeing Economy and suggest that more radical approaches hold greater potential to address the polycrisis and protect population health. We summarise how the implementation of a Wellbeing Economy could be a commensurate response to the polycrisis that might also yield substantial benefits for population health.