Postmodern health economics

Postmodernism and health economics are both concerned with questions about choices and values, risk and uncertainty. Postmodernists seek to respond to such questions in the context of a world of uncoordinated and often contra dictory chances, a world devoid of clear-cut standards. Health economics se eks to respond using the constructs of modernity, including the application of reason to generate better order. In this article we present two sorts o f voice. First we introduce postmodernism and those seeking to contribute t o economics from a postmodern perspective. Second, we consider critics of a prevalent neo-classicism within health economics both from outside that pa radigm and from those more closely associated with it. It is increasingly e vident that (health) economics, as presently constituted, is failing both i n its descriptive powers and its prescriptive possibilities. Postmodernism offers not just an alternative theoretical approach but the possibility of both expanding the scope of health economics and grounding it more appropri ately in the everyday experience of those engaging with health systems.