Poverty is arguably the greatest risk factor for acquiring and succumbing to disease worldwide, but has historically received less attention from the medical community than genetic or environmental risk factors. Several factors likely contributed to this oversight: first, being poor is not considered a disruption of normal physiologic function. Physicians and basic scientists viewed themselves as ill-equipped to understand or manipulate an individual's socioeconomic status. Second, unlike the largesse dedicated to finding technical solutions for population health problems, funding for research dedicated to understanding and alleviating poverty was sparse. Third, although some acknowledged that poverty plays a pivotal role in determining disease vulnerability and outcomes, the resultant solutions intended to redress poverty were often wrongheaded. For example, structural adjustment programs (SAPs) intended to increase gross domestic product (GDP) growth often involved austerity measures, such as cuts in government spending, currency devaluation, and privatization. These macroeconomic shifts involved intertemporal trade-offs (temporary pain for long-term gains) and completely ignored the path-dependent nature of health care. If a child does not get vaccinated, a pregnant mother lacks antenatal care, or a TB clinic goes without drugs, the health consequences can reverberate for generations.