What's Life Worth to You?

"human life is the subject of heated debate between regulatory agencies and the businesses they influence. 'To protests from business and praise from unions, environmentalists, and consumer groups, one agency after another has ratcheted up the price of life, justifying tougher—and more costly—standards,' the article reports. The EPA, for example, has revised its estimate of your value from $6.8 million during the Bush administration to $9.1 million now. (Does this mean we're better off? More productive? Better loved? Living longer? The method for fixing the number is not our subject here.)" Such a seemingly macabre conversation occurs because regulations undergo cost-benefit analyses. Businesses are adept at enumerating the cost of, say, stiffer roll bars in cars, and those who would mandate those costs are obliged to show that they yield financially comparable benefits. That means coming up with a way to enumerate the value of lives saved. In the case discussed in the Times, the Transportation Department wanted to mandate that the roof strength of new vehicles be doubled, estimating that would prevent 135 deaths per year. The plan had been rejected because a calculation showed that the increase in the roofs' costs would exceed the value of the lives they saved by almost $800 million. Years later, the price tag put on the lives was increased to make the case for the new regulation stronger. With New, High-Value Americans in the drivers' seats—valued at $6.1 instead of $3.5 million each—the proposal was a winner.