Footnotes

• ↵i Although some counterintuitive studies have shown that recession can be accompanied by falling mortality rates, such findings are restricted to short periods of recession and developed societies (that have welfare systems in place.) There is large evidence, on the other hand, that economic recessions are associated with increases in adult male mortality in Russia, Thailand, Mexico and Sweden, higher child mortality in Peru and Indonesia, and increased suicide rates in Japan, New Zealand, Russia and the US.1

• Competing interests None.

• Patient consent Obtained.

• Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.