3 ms·

It’s not a false statement. You are correct that saving lives in this way doesn’t put money in anyone’s pocket. Nor can the value generated be taxed. However

It’s not a false statement. You are correct that saving lives in this way doesn’t put money in anyone’s pocket. Nor can the value generated be taxed. However, it generates $50 billion relative to the actual state of the world in which there is a cost that large due to suicides.

s1artibartfast 5y ago
>However, it generates $50 billion relative to the actual state of the world in which there is a cost that large due to suicides. What does that mean? What if I say a life is worth 1 trillion dollars, of 1 google dollars? does that mean that if I save a life the world is 1 trillion dollars richer?
- huitzitziltzin 5y ago
  It would mean that if you decided a life was worth a trillion dollars. This is intrinsically a very hard question to answer. Fortunately there are ways to make better estimates for that number than by guessing. The way people behave when buying either insurance products, products which enhance their safety (in particular: reduce the risk of mortality) are informative about these implicit valuations. There is a large literature in economics about this (Kip Viscusi at Vanderbilt has an accessible book about the topic, since he has written many of these papers) and of course the EPA and other government agencies have estimates as well.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    I get that there are different ways to price a human life. I was mostly curious about what you meant by this statement >relative to the actual state of the world "the actual state of the world" does translate to any definition I know.
    - huitzitziltzin 5y ago
      “Actual” == “not counter factual” in this context. How about “the current state of the world” ? Imagine two worlds: 1. The current/actual state of the world: far too many people commit suicide every year. 2. A counterfactual state of the world in which spending $10 billion on mental health services prevents 6,000 suicides in the UK. A $50 billion welfare loss has been averted in (counterfactual) world 2, relative to (actual) world 1.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > 1 google dollars Unless this is a fancy way of saying “an amount of money equal to the value of the most well-known unit of Alphabet”, you probably mean “1 googol dollars”.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    yup. Thanks

s1artibartfast 5y ago

>However, it generates $50 billion relative to the actual state of the world in which there is a cost that large due to suicides. What does that mean? What if I say a life is worth 1 trillion dollars, of 1 google dollars? does that mean that if I save a life the world is 1 trillion dollars richer?

huitzitziltzin 5y ago
It would mean that if you decided a life was worth a trillion dollars. This is intrinsically a very hard question to answer. Fortunately there are ways to make better estimates for that number than by guessing. The way people behave when buying either insurance products, products which enhance their safety (in particular: reduce the risk of mortality) are informative about these implicit valuations. There is a large literature in economics about this (Kip Viscusi at Vanderbilt has an accessible book about the topic, since he has written many of these papers) and of course the EPA and other government agencies have estimates as well.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  I get that there are different ways to price a human life. I was mostly curious about what you meant by this statement >relative to the actual state of the world "the actual state of the world" does translate to any definition I know.
  - huitzitziltzin 5y ago
    “Actual” == “not counter factual” in this context. How about “the current state of the world” ? Imagine two worlds: 1. The current/actual state of the world: far too many people commit suicide every year. 2. A counterfactual state of the world in which spending $10 billion on mental health services prevents 6,000 suicides in the UK. A $50 billion welfare loss has been averted in (counterfactual) world 2, relative to (actual) world 1.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> 1 google dollars Unless this is a fancy way of saying “an amount of money equal to the value of the most well-known unit of Alphabet”, you probably mean “1 googol dollars”.
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  yup. Thanks