The Value of Life and the Cost of a Death

The New York Times notes the rising estimates of the government on the economic value of human life:

The Environmental Protection Agency set the value of a life at $9.1 million last year in proposing tighter restrictions on air pollution. The agency used numbers as low as $6.8 million during the George W. Bush administration.

The Food and Drug Administration declared that life was worth $7.9 million last year, up from $5 million in 2008, in proposing warning labels on cigarette packages featuring images of cancer victims.

The Transportation Department has used values of around $6 million to justify recent decisions to impose regulations that the Bush administration had rejected as too expensive, like requiring stronger roofs on cars.

And the numbers may keep climbing. In December, the E.P.A. said it might set the value of preventing cancer deaths 50 percent higher than other deaths, because cancer kills slowly. A report last year financed by the Department of Homeland Security suggested that the value of preventing deaths from terrorism might be 100 percent higher than other deaths.

I don't understand why there is not an agreed upon value for a human life across government agencies. Of course, it makes perfect sense to add to the value of a human life other costs such as medical care prior to death and an attributed value for suffering.

It does seem clear that the public is willing to pay more to prevent a death from terrorism than to prevent a death from natural causes. Should that be taken into account? If so, government agencies will be pleading for bigger appropriations because they deal with threats that concern the public more, rather than threats that are more serious.

Incidentally, DALYs -- Disability Adjusted Life Years -- my namesake indicator, is a very good indicator for planning purposes, simple and powerful!