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Cost-Benefit Analysis in Light of the Non-Identity Problem
Tue, Feb 19 2008 11:48 AM
[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] So earlier I wrote about the role played by discounting in doing cost-benefit analyses on the impacts of climate change. I concluded that discounting of future damage is unethical because it treats future people as if their interests matter less than present people's. But recently, I've also been discussing the implications... Read More...
Does the Fact that Individuals Discount Entail the Existence of a Social Discount Rate?
Fri, Feb 15 2008 4:09 PM
[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] In my last post , I discussed the idea of discounting as it relates to cost-benefit analysis. I reached the conclusion that discounting treats future people's interests as if they were less significant than our own, and that if cost-benefit analysis aims to make people the best off, then this seems like a bad practice. I... Read More...
Cost-Benefit Analysis, Discounting, and Climate Change
Thu, Feb 14 2008 10:29 PM
[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] I wrote a paper last semester on the notion of discounting future damage (I'll explain what this means below), and I wanted to revisit the issue now that I've done a little more research, to see if I still agree with what I wrote then. Basically, my paper examined how our views of the proper role of discounting are dependent... Read More...