Organizations and Markets

Unpopular Economics

15 August 2008 at 9:37 am Lasse 4 comments

| Lasse Lien |

The Norwegian Directorate for Roads recently published a report concluding that politicians should scrap a plan to make roads safer for kids walking or riding bikes to school. The argument is that the investment required per life saved is too high compared with other measures that will primarily save the lives of grown-ups. The directorate bravely chose to publish this recommendation just four days before school starts.

While their cost/benefit analysis shows beyond reasonable doubt that this conclusion is consistent with maximizing national economic welfare, I don’t think I’ll brag about being an economist at the PTA meeting this evening.

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