Deck 9: Costbenefit Analysis: Do the Ends Justify the Means

Question 1

What is the relation between cost-benefit analysis and utilitarianism?

Answer 1

No Answer.

Question 2

Are some values incomparable? If so, how should we choose between them?

Answer 2

No Answer.

Question 3

Should we assign monetary values to statistical lives? Explain your answer.

Answer 3

No Answer.

Question 4

Should we assign monetary values to environmental goods? Explain your answer.

Question 5

Can defenders of cost-benefit analysis weigh monetary costs against rights and duties? Explain.

Question 6

One objection to cost-benefit analysis is that

A) probability can never be accurately assessed in most situations.
B) it is wrong to assign a monetary value to human life.
C) we cannot trust corporations to accurately assess costs.
D) None of the above

Question 7

In 1973, Ford became aware that people were dying in low-speed rear-end collisions due to

A) faulty safety belts that would not release.
B) flammable upholstery.
C) a fuel tank that exploded easily.
D) All of the above

Question 8

Ford calculated that failing to fix the design flaw would result in how many burn deaths?

A) 8
B) 18
C) 180
D) None of the above

Question 9

Ford calculated that the cost of fixing the design flaw came out to be about

A) $11 per car.
B) More than $200 million.
C) More than $100 million more than the value of lives saved.
D) All of the above

Question 10

When the National Highway Safety Administration proposed stricter regulations on fuel systems, Ford

A) developed the fuel-efficient Pinto to comply with new fuel system in only 25 months instead of the typical 43 months it takes to design a car.
B) sent a memo to the NHTSA explaining why the regulation preventing 180 burn deaths was not worth the more than $100 million it would cost.
C) immediately sped up production on the Pinto so it would be grandfathered in.
D) None of the above

Question 11

The $200,000 value Ford placed on a single life came from

A) the public relations department of Ford.
B) lawyers hired by Ford.
C) the NHSA.
D) All of the above

Question 12

The value of a single human life Ford used was based on how much

A) the person would contribute to the economy, and cost of emergency response.
B) debt someone would be willing to take on to pay for expensive medical treatment.
C) a jury was willing to award for a wrongful death.
D) All of the above

Question 13

Today, the value of a statistical life is approximately

A) $1.1 million.
B) $125 million.
C) $3.5 million.
D) None of the above

Question 14

The current value of a statistical life is determined by how much

A) the person would contribute to the economy, and cost of emergency response.
B) debt someone would be willing to take on to pay for expensive medical treatment.
C) a jury was willing to award for a wrongful death.
D) None of the above

Question 15

Critics of the cost-benefit analysis object primarily that

A) it is unethical in principle to set a monetary value on human life.
B) we can never precisely identify the monetary value of a human life.
C) cost-benefit analysis tends to always mistakenly put too low a value on human life.
D) None of the above

Question 16

Friedman argues that

A) although unethical, sometimes we must assign a monetary value to human life as a matter of practice.
B) we can never be justified in assigning a monetary value to human life.
C) everyone in society should be willing to sacrifice a little to save a life.
D) None of the above

Question 17

The cost-benefit analysis is best described as being similar to

A) consequentialism.
B) deontology.
C) virtue ethics.
D) None of the above

Question 18

Both utilitarianism and cost-benefit analysis think the value of a human life is its contribution to the aggregated sum total of valuable consequences to society as a whole, therefore

A) a large loss to one person can be justified by the offsetting benefit to society as a whole.
B) it is important to recognize which duties to other are inviolable.
C) the whole must sometimes suffer for the individual.
D) None of the above

Question 19

One argument against the close association of utilitarianism and cost-benefit analysis is utilitarianism

A) only takes pleasure into account, cost-benefit analysis measure money.
B) is a theory of rightness, while cost-benefit analysis is a process for decision-making.
C) emphasizes duties, cost-benefit analysis emphasizes human freedom.
D) All of the above

Question 20

Hansson thinks that deontological requirements

A) are ruled out by the Cost-benefit Analysis.
B) cannot be mapped on to a Consequentialist calculus.
C) should be considered instead of running a Cost-benefit Analysis.
D) None of the above

Question 21

Zamir and Medina's formula

A) rules out preventative action that would violate people's rights.
B) is an alternative to a cost-benefit analysis.
C) always maximizes utility.
D) None of the above

Question 22

An input filter is a way to

A) to incorporate rights into a cost-benefit analysis.
B) limit the flammability of a gas tank.
C) make cars more sustainable.
D) None of the above

Question 23

Calculating the difference in price between the average home near a lake and the average home in the area not by the lake leads to

A) a price on nonmarket goods.
B) the hedonic value of the lake.
C) a way to calculate the aesthetic value of the environment.
D) All of the above

Question 24

The travel cost method

A) protects the environment by imposing a cost on unnecessary travel.
B) is incompatible with cost-benefit analysis.
C) assesses value of a site by the cost of travel to it.
D) All of the above

Question 25

One problem with measuring the existence value of something like a lake is that

A) it only tracks what we are willing to pay for the existence of the lake.
B) future generations may be willing to pay more for the existence of the lake.
C) the lake may have value in itself.
D) All of the above