3 ms·
In no way is the value of an unpolluted atmosphere or good health some abstract concept. They have a value. The point of putting a dollar figure on it is for
by tatsuke95 15y ago
In no way is the value of an unpolluted atmosphere or good health some abstract concept. They have a value. The point of putting a dollar figure on it is for comparison purposes.
You may disagree with the value placed on these things, or perhaps value them differently than "the average", but don't assume that their value can't be calculated.
- brianprogrammer 15y agoEconomists and policy makers don't know how to calculate the monetary value of a clean atmosphere, nor do they know who should pay for it or how. So when making decisions they quietly assume the value is zero. We would be better off if they assumed the value was infinite.
- rflrob 15y agoThere are plenty of ways to calculate the value of a clean atmosphere, though I agree that a good calculation is difficult, and the question of who should pay for it and how isn't easy either (but more of an ethics-politics question than the value itself). I disagree that we'd be better off if they assumed the value was infinite. Under that calculus, anything that might possibly impact the atmosphere would be banned: things like energy generation of nearly any form, which most reasonable people would agree is of positive benefit. There is a value to it, that value is hard to calculate, but unfortunately, 0 is much closer to the real value than infinity.