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Cost Benefit



The mundane cost-benefit decisions that we make in our everyday lives also
affect risks to others.

Don Kosloff mailto:dkosloff@ncweb.com
2910 Main St., Perry OH

----- Original Message -----
From: Karam, Andrew <Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 8:36 AM
Subject: RE: risk abatement options (response to Tschaeche)


> >One, is the issue of cost-benefit.  I know
> >many well-educated people who find it completely disdainful to "put a
price
>
> >on a human life."
>
> Dear Barbara,
>
> Have you ever wondered if people making such comments have life insurance
> policies?  More seriously, I have pointed out to my students that everyone
> puts a price on their lives all the time, and not only when buying
> insurance.  Deciding to buy new tires or have brake work done, for
example,
> are excellent examples of making an unconscious cost-benefit analysis -
i.e.
> is the reduced risk of a fatal accident worth the extra cost?  And, of
> course, there are others, including health insurance decisions, deciding
> whether or not to join a health club, diet, and so forth.  In fact, I
would
> argue that we attempt to put a price of sorts on human life all the time.
> We're just not conscious of it.
>
> While it would be nice to assume that, if everyone knew this, they would
> take a more charitable look at cost-benefit analyses, but I doubt this
would
> occur.  We (humans) may be intelligent, but we're not always very smart.
>
> Andy
>
> Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
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