Discounting sacrifices some future people for the benefit of others

Evidence

In that respect, the most powerful normative argument for discounting— that it will leave future generations with a more valuable stock of resources by paying heed to opportunity costs— is embarrassed by the fact that some members of those future generations are sacrifi ced in favor of the very alternative investments that are supposed to inure to their benefi t. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere, 433

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Discounting treats unborn generations’ lives as already in decline before they begin — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 410; Cost-benefit logic could portray human extinction as welfare maximizing — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 435; Discounted cash flow valuation treats the future ambivalently, valuing yet discounting it. — Ève Chiapello, Financialisation of Valuation, 30

Broader Connections

• Discounted cash flow valuation treats the future ambivalently, valuing yet discounting it. #expands (0.95) — Ève Chiapello, Financialisation of Valuation, 30