Resources for the Future Podcast

Speakers: Roger Cooke, Gordon Woo, Paul Embrechts, Debra Ballen, Sharlene Leurig

Speakers: Mark Cohen, Rosina Bierbaum

Speakers: Timothy J. Brennan, Hillary Chen, Michele Gittleman, Ned Stetson

Speakers: Phil Sharp, Richard J. Smith, Frank E. Loy, Alan D. Hecht

Speakers: Molly Macauley, Roger Sedjo, Nigel Purvis, Lynn Scarlett, D. James Baker

Speakers: Ramanan Laxminarayan, Anup Malani, Phil Polgreen, Martin Meltzer, Maureen Cropper

Speaker: Lamar Alexander, U.S. Senator from Tennessee

Speaker: Michael Howard Senior Vice President, Research and Development, EPRI

Paul Portney of the University of Arizona discusses "Benefit-Cost Analysis and Common Sense: Friends or Foes?".

Concluding Roundtable: Panelists discuss "The Future of Regulatory Oversight".

Panelists discuss "Do We Know What We Prefer? Implications of Behavioral Economics for Research on Preferences".

Panelists discuss "Beyond Efficiency: Incorporating Equity in Regulatory Analysis".

While benefit-cost analysis has long been the dominant method for assessing regulatory impacts, its focus on individual preferences and on monetary valuation of nonmarket benefits has been the subject of some debate. This panel will discuss the role of benefit-cost analysis as a positive or normative framework. It will also consider alternatives to benefit-cost analysis, including cost-effectiveness analysis and utilitarian decision analysis, as aids to decision-making. Joseph Cordes, George Washington University (Moderator) “Positive and Normative Justifications for Benefit-Cost Analysis” James Hammitt, Harvard University “Prospects for Utilitarian Decision Analysis” Jonathan Baron, University of Pennsylvania “Self-Selection in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis” David Meltzer, University of Chicago “What Does Benefit-Cost Analysis Tell Us? What are the Alternatives to BCA?” Maureen Cropper, Resources for the Future

Sally Katzen of Podesta Group discusses "Which Way the Political Winds Are Blowing".

Better integration of science, economics, and decisionmaking has long been a significant concern in regulation. Most recently, the National Research Council report, Science and Decisions: Advancing Risk Assessment, made several recommendations for changing how these issues are addressed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These recommendations, as well as preceding proposals and newer ideas for fundamental change, have significant implications for how environmental and numerous other risks are assessed and regulated. Kara Morgan, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Moderator) “Assessing and Managing Risk: First Things First” Gail Charnley, HealthRisk Strategies “Integration of Risk Assessment and Risk Management: The Need for Caution” Bernard Goldstein, University of Pittsburgh “Solution-Focused Risk Assessment: Reversing the ‘Red Book’ Relationship” Adam Finkel, University of Pennsylvania “Risk Assessment and the Behavioral Science of Economics” Sandra Hoffmann, Resources for the Future