Priceless

<DIV><p>As clinical as it sounds to express the value of human lives health or the environment in cold dollars and cents cost-benefit analysis requires it. More disturbingly this approach is being embraced by a growing number of politicians and conservative pundits as the most reasonable way to make many policy decisions regarding public health and the environment. </p><p>By systematically refuting the economic algorithms and illogical assumptions that cost-benefit analysts flaunt as fact <em>Priceless</em> tells a gripping story about how solid science has been shoved to the backburner by bean counters with ideological blinders (<em>In These Times</em>). Ackerman and Heinzerling argue that decisions about health and safety should be made to reflect not economists' numbers but democratic values chosen on moral grounds. This is a vividly written book punctuated by striking analogies a good deal of outrage and a nice dose of humor (Cass Sunstein <em>The New Republic</em>). </p><p>Essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of human health and environmental protection <em>Priceless</em> shines a bright light on obstacles that stand in the way of good government decisions (<em>Public Citizen News</em>). </p><BR></DIV>