Jim Holt writes a solid article about the value assigned each human life by the US Gov't (or at least two of its agencies). Not suprisingly--the EPA loves you more (6.1 million). This has long struck me as one of the more interesting branches of economics. Evaluating compensation for death or disfigurement.
"Economists looked at the salaries paid to workers in riskier jobs like mining. They figured out that such workers received, on average, an additional $61 a year for facing an extra 1-in-100,000 risk of accidental death. Evidently, these workers valued their own lives at 100,000 times $61, or $6.1 million." But that's $61 per year, and presumably that increases with inflation, while the worker's years left decrease. But that's picking at nits. It is called the dismal science for a reason.
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