Putting a Value on Life, Governmentwide

By Charles S. Clark

Getting agencies on the same page on the value of a human life for legal purposes is no mean feat. A recent New York Times feature highlighted agency differences on the metaphysical question and efforts by the Office of Management and Budget to enforce a minimum of $5 million. That prompted a Union of Concerned Scientists staffer to write to the paper and suggest that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being derelict by sticking with the same $3 million figure since 1995.

Angels on the head of a pin?