Can We Measure the Value of Saving Human Lives in Dollars? Somber Calculations in a Time of Plague

“These paradoxes have a root cause. They all depend on a certain kind of economic model of practical rationality. They assume that the value of a human action can be identified with the expected value of the consequences of that action. To determine the value of an action, we compare two sorts of ‘possible worlds’: those likely to result if the action is taken, and those likely to result if the action is not taken.” - The Public Discourse