Intuitively, we believe that health and ed contribute to productivity, wealth, etc. But the evidence that health and education (beyond the basics) contribute much is actually pretty weak.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2008/03/human-capital-p.html#m...

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/05/medicine_as_sca.html

By basics, I mean vaccines/trauma care/birthing in medicine, and literacy/arithmetic in education.

Disclaimer: I also work in the Ed/NonGov sector, as well as in the Sci/Gov sector.