health economist tries to find out with the money that we have to spend on health care how can we make the best possible investments, so that each dollar that we invest gets us the maximum amount of health care for the population - Make sure we get more health per unit of money - Calculate how much to invest in health - Show that health for all is better for the economy and the society - Show that a strong primary health care leads to better results - Show that a health promoting environment is most cost effective. -maximize utility, and minimize cost. - Measure - birth, death, incidences. - Things that affect the economy - income, education.