Is a ‘nanny state’ a price worth paying to keep the NHS free? The evidence shows it could work
- Written by Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University

The UK government’s new ten-year-plan to transform the NHS includes a focus on preventing ill health rather than treating illness. But to what extent should people depend on the state to help them make healthy decisions?
Some think any kind of nudge in that direction is symptomatic of a “nanny...