Bloomberg News has a really interesting piece about how the "value of a statistical life" that the government uses for regulatory purposes — $10 million at the EPA, $9.5 million at the FDA, $9.6 million at the Department of Transportation — is sharply higher than other measures, such as lifetime earnings for college graduates, jury wrongful death awards, or life insurance policy face values.
The piece is headlined "No One Values Your Life More Than The Federal Government." It reports that the value used in the government calculations has soared over time, affecting calculations the costs and benefits of certain regulations: "As VSLs have increased, once marginally beneficial safety measures can suddenly yield benefits far in excess of costs—meaning proposed regulations left for dead can have new life."
