Home > Publications > Updating the economics of the "war on cancer": false metaphor and faulty economics

Updating the economics of the "war on cancer": false metaphor and faulty economics

Share this publication
Share on InstagramShare on FacebookShare on WhatsappShare on Twitter
Summary of Publication 

Srinivas, S. (2021) 'Updating the economics of the "war on cancer": false metaphor and faulty economics', Cancer Control. Available at: http://www.cancercontrol.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/28-31.pdf 

The “War on Cancer” is an undoubtedly a poor metaphor. Cancer is a complex biological process, not a single target for bellicose action; science is not organized on war strategy principles; and the winners and losers in a military war reflect neither the experience nor the choices of cancer patients and scientists. A more fundamental problem exists: the economics of the so-called “War” are faulty. The first section of this essay discusses the false War metaphor and its faulty economics. The second describes a more dynamic economic context that draws on evolutionary and institutional perspectives.