Inequality in Length of Life

October, 2008      Download this brief (PDF).

By Victor R. Fuchs and Hal Ersner-Hershfield

Victor R. Fuchs is the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, where he applies economic analysis to social problems of national concern. He was Professor of Economics in the Economics Department and the School of Medicine’s Department of Health Research and Policy from 1974 to 1995. He is author of nine books, the editor of six others, and about two hundred papers and shorter pieces. Professor Fuchs was elected president of the American Economic Association in 1995. His contributions have also been recognized by his election to the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received the John R. Commons Award, Emily Mumford Medal for Distinguished Contributions to Social Science in Medicine, Distinguished Investigator Award (Association for Health Services Research), Baxter Foundation Health Services Research Prize, and Madden Distinguished Alumni Award (New York University).

Hal Ersner-Hershfield is a Ph.D. student in the Psychology Department at Stanford University. Ersner-Hershfield researches issues related to longevity, with a special focus on long-term decision-making and retirement planning. His recent work considers solutions to the paradox that Americans are living longer, but saving less. Hal graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University in 2001 with a degree in Psychology and English.