Abstract
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) owes much of its appeal to its image as a neutral principle for deciding upon the appropriate stringency of environmental, health, and safety regulation. This Article examines whether CBA is neutral in effect-i.e. whether it sometimes makes regulations more stringent or regularly leads to weaker environmental, health, and safety protection. Using a representative data set from recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reviews, an examination of OMB prompt letters, and a literature review, this Article shows that CBA has almost always proven anti-environmental in practice. It also shows that the most common approaches to CBA are anti-environmental in theory.
Recommended Citation
David M. Driesen,
Is Cost-Benefit Analysis Neutral,
77
U. Colo. L. Rev.
335
(2006).
Available at:
https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/lawreview/vol77/iss2/3