Rural health disparities: The economic argument

Abstract

The traditional understanding of mainstream economic activity is the speculation that such events occur separate from political power. This chapter argues this notion and provides evidence of the connections between political decision-making to the economic circumstances of rural populations. First, this chapter describes three distinct ways economic activities are articulated in the literature. This chapter then describes how each activity applies to and impacts rural health outcomes. This chapter will then end, how it began, with scientific justifications that economic activity and political decision-making are consistently juxtaposed.