The neat thing about economic cost/benefit analysis, in my humble opinion, is the way it provides a means of parameterizing ideological debate.
Are you an environmentalist? Use a generous valuation of environmental items in your study. Do you believe that government should alleviate the suffering of the poor? Incorporate a high value for 'the basic needs externality' in your study. Are you jealous of the rich? Include something analogous to the basic needs externality (ie the "they-are-too-damn-rich negative externality).
And on and on and on it can go. In fact, the adjustable parameters of a cost/benefit study ARE, to a large extent, the "Elements of Ideology" that this website is trying to discuss and enumerate.
Cool!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment