As the Obama administration revamps government regulations, it is quietly upping the value the government places on every human life, The New York Times reports. The Food and Drug Administration, proposing new warning labels on cigarette packages, declared last year that it was worth spending $7.1 million for every life saved — up from $5 million in 2008. The Environmental Protection Agency, justifying tighter air pollution restrictions, put the value of a life at $9.1 million, up from $6.8 million during the George W. Bush administration. Is every one of us really worth that much?
$9 million seems a bit steep: At $9 million, "the guy who wipes his snot on the walls of the subway train" is overvalued, says Dan Amira in New York. And "a blogger who comments on the news for a living" can't really be "worth the same as someone who actually betters the world in some way." I guess "it's really just a big crapshoot," though, and the Obama numbers are as reasonable as Bush's.
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