Are All Lives Equal?: Why Cost-Benefit Analysis Values Rich Lives More and How Philosophy Can Fix It

by Carneades .

According to economists, saving the life of a single American is just as beneficial to society as saving the lives of 2 Saudis, 5 Romanians, 10 Macedonians, 35 Indians, 69 Haitians, 90 Sierra Leoneans, or 148 Liberians. Why do economists think that, to judge if your life is worth saving, they must first check your pocketbook? Why do so many organizations, from the United States Government and the World Bank to the Gates Foundation and the United Nations (many of whom claim to hold the equality of life as sacrosanct) agree that when you check the numbers rich lives are just worth more?

Are All Lives Equal? investigates how economics has come unbound from its philosophical and ethical foundations. It explores why economists support policy frameworks that would let hundreds of poor people die to save a single rich person. Unlike many philosophical treatises on economics, this book does not advocate blindly discarding the useful tools of Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Value of a Statistical Life. Instead, it strives to thread the needle between economics and philosophy, advocating for reforming the way governments measure benefit by making the system both more accurate and more just.

With over 40 new, original, thought experiments and stunning illustrations by Juliana Žamoit, this book is engaging and accessible to everyone, from economists that know nothing of philosophy, to philosophers that know nothing of economics, to all of us skeptics in between that know nothing of either.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

420 pages, Paperback

Published June 25, 2022

Reviews

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are All Lives Equal? by Carneades is a text that, in plain language, explores the area where economic theory and philosophy (specifically ethics) intersect. Through thought experiments and basic explanations, the nuance that most people know has to be employed in these areas is covered.

The problem with many ideas is that the core theory is usually without nuance. Utilitarianism, strict utilitarianism as it was first conceived, was strictly a numbers game. It can seem attractive at first glance until someone suggests killing you to harvest your good organs to save multiple people who need them is the ethical thing to do. From there the discussion branches out in several directions. Likewise when economists place a value on human lives. Their numbers are monetary units, and more monetary units are associated with the rich and powerful, thus their lives are worth multiple poor people's lives. Again, we must step away from less nuanced views.

That is my basic takeaway from this book. There isn't a lot of new information or original thinking, but there doesn't need to be. This is looking at what has been and is being done and applying nuance. I know that I am way oversimplifying the book, but the author and web site owner chooses to stay hidden and not take responsibility for his thoughts and not share what, if any, actual training or education they (he, she, it?) has, so I feel comfortable oversimplifying someone else's regurgitation of already well-known ideas and experiments.

I recommend this to those who haven't looked at these ideas before, whether through formal education or informal curiosity. It is a very simple presentation that will be readily accessible to any reader. This isn't deep thought so much as it is thought being held to task for its results. For instructors, you might find some new ways to explain the ideas you've been teaching, so it is well worth your time as well. I probably would have used some phrases and explanations in courses I used to teach.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is how healthcare and harm prevention are geared towards rich people, and what alternate model can bring a more just distribution of these goods.
The book feels like a rehearsal of some academic paper, but made more literate to be more readable by a wider audience. Unfortunately I didn’t find that book to be rather engaging. Probably because I am a moral anti-realist and my voice on the book’s problem is negligible.
The positioning of pictures seems to be mimicking the paper version, but it distracts a lot in e-book form, as it breaks the text flow.
Any way, I admire Carneades very much for his YouTube channel and I recommend you checking it out.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. But I feel as though it says the same thing in different words. It gets a bit dull