Ackerman and Heinzerling write that the basic problem with narrow economic analysis of health and environmental protection is that human life, health and nature cannot be described meaningfully in monetary terms; they are priceless. They argue that while there are hard questions to be answered about protection of human health and the environment, and there are many useful insights about these questions from the field of economics, there is no reason to think that the right answers will emerge from the strange process of assigning dollar values to human life, human health and nature itself. The authors argue that a different way of thinking and deciding is required, a new kind of economic thinking. This selection is a criticism of economic analysis and theory as it has been applied to health and environmental policy.
