WASHINGTON - It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be.
The "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars, the Environmental Protection Agency reckoned in May -- a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago.
The Associated Press discovered the change after a review of cost-benefit analyses during more than a dozen years.
Though it may seem like harmless bureaucracy, the devaluation has consequences.
Why it mattersWhen drawing up regulations, government agencies put a value on human life and then weigh the costs versus the lifesaving benefits of a proposed rule. The less a life is worth to the government, the less the need for a regulation, such as restrictions on pollution.
Orlando Sentinel