Each of the eight chapters of the book describes the national health care system of an industrialized country and is written by a health economics expert who is very familiar with the policy of the respective country. Each chapter identifies the 4-5 specific policies with the highest impact for the respective country over the past 20-30 years. The economic characteristics of each policy are described and, where possible, its success is evaluated. The current policy agenda for the country is discussed. A final chapter summarizes and synthesizes the major points of the analysis. While the book's focus is on economics, it is written in non-technical language for an audience of health policy makers or students of health policy.