Ackerman, Frank

Priceless : on knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing / Frank Ackerman and Lisa Heinzerling - New York The New Press 2004 - 277 p.

As clinical as it sounds to express the value of human lives, health, or the environment in cold dollars and cents, cost-benefit analysis requires it. More disturbingly, this approach is being embraced by a growing number of politicians and conservative pundits as the most reasonable way to make many policy decisions regarding public health and the environment.

By systematically refuting the economic algorithms and illogical assumptions that cost-benefit analysts flaunt as fact, Priceless tells a “gripping story about how solid science has been shoved to the backburner by bean counters with ideological blinders” (In These Times). Ackerman and Heinzerling argue that decisions about health and safety should be made “to reflect not economists’ numbers, but democratic values, chosen on moral grounds. This is a vividly written book, punctuated by striking analogies, a good deal of outrage, and a nice dose of humor” (Cass Sunstein, The New Republic).

Essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of human health and environmental protection, Priceless “shines a bright light on obstacles that stand in the way of good government decisions” (Public Citizen News).

9781565849815


Commercial policy
Environmental economics
Product safety
United States
Business ethics
Consumer protection
Economic policy
Consumer protection--Cost effectiveness

330 ACK-F