The False Promise of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Bjørn Lomborg often argues that by using data, we can overcome the left/right ideological divide and identify policies that would have the biggest impact on society. He is almost alone in believing that economists’ use of cost-benefit analysis is the best way to choose between policy options – and for good reason.
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND – Can we really use data to overcome the left/right ideological divide and identify policies that, as Bjørn Lomborg puts it, “would have the biggest impact on society?” Lomborg is a leading advocate of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as the best way to choose between policy options. He is not alone in this belief, though he is perhaps extreme in his faith in CBA.