An American life worth less today

[Capper]

It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be.The "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May — a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.

The Associated Press discovered the change after a review of cost-benefit analyses over more than a dozen years.

Though it may seem like a harmless bureaucratic recalculation, the devaluation has real consequences.

When drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as tighter restrictions on pollution.

Consider, for example, a hypothetical regulation that costs $18 billion to enforce but will prevent 2,500 deaths. At $7.8 million per person (the old figure), the lifesaving benefits outweigh the costs. But at $6.9 million per person, the rule costs more than the lives it saves, so it may not be adopted.
Some environmentalists accuse the Bush administration of changing the value to avoid tougher rules — a charge the EPA denies.

The Associated Press: AP IMPACT: An American life worth less today

[Jokerswild]

How do you put a cost on something thats priceless?

[insomnia]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

How do you put a cost on something thats priceless?

That's exactly what I was thinking.

There is no price, there is only right, and wrong.

[Phosphorous]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

How do you put a cost on something thats priceless?

It's the government, you should know by now they don't give a shit. As long as they are making their cash they could careless.

[drew and not u]

Whatever happened to a government by the people for the people....

[Phosphorous]

Corrupted by money...

[Reloadron]

Originally Posted by drew and not u

Whatever happened to a government by the people for the people....

That only rang well in 1863. Things have changed.

As to the cost of a human life? Nope, not at all priceless as we would be led to believe.

Take a time of war, even like WW II. OK, see the hill and take the hill. Question becomes how many lives will it likely cost to take the hill? OK, taking the number of estimated loss of life into consideration is it worth it to take the hill? Everything carries a price tag including a loss of life. Just a question if the end justifies the means.

Ron