初等/五等/佐級◆英文題庫下載題庫

As the concept of human rights is based on fairness, the exposure of so many people in poor countries to hazardous industrial processes and toxic wastes violates their rights. This is the view of many experts. In 1994, a group of experts met in Geneva to compose a more general document: “Draft Declaration of Principles on Human Rights and the Environment.” It proclaims, among other things, a universal human right to a “secure, healthy, ecologically sound environment.” 

But many economists give priority to economic growth because it leads to generally higher salaries and more spending power for average individuals. Market exchanges generally promote economic growth, except where public goods are concerned. In those cases, economists use cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to identify new rules of market exchange that maximize growth. 

We note problems with this approach. Economic growth does not improve human welfare if it merely reflects higher prices and longer working hours stemming from the increasing scarcity of essential items, such as land to grow crops. When governments use CBA, they give equal consideration to each dollar rather than to each person. This goes against the ideal of equal government concern for all citizens. Also, CBA discounts the lives of future generation, as if people living later have few human rights than those living now. 

CBAs put all variables in dollar terms so that optimal policies can be identified mathematically. Shadow prices are assigned to whatever is not traded in markets, including human lives. Economists estimate how much people value their lives in monetary terms from how much they spend on life insurance and medical care, as well as how much extra pay they demand for dangerous work. Also, when people are killed in accidents caused by negligence, jury awards suggest common estimates of a life’s monetary worth. The problem is that on such measures an average human life in a poor country is worth much less money than an American, European, or Japanese life. This denies an equal human right to life.