Download or read book Catastrophe aversion written by Christoph Rheinberger and published by FonCSI. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In light of climate change and other existential threats, policy commentators sometimes suggest that society should be more concerned about catastrophes. This document reflects on what is, or should be, society’s attitude toward such low-probability, high-impact events. The question underlying this analysis is how society considers - a major accident that leads to a large number of deaths ; - a large number of small accidents that each kill one person where the two situations lead to the same total number of deaths. We first explain how catastrophic risk can be conceived of as a spread in the distribution of losses, or a “more risky” distribution of risks. We then review studies from decision sciences, psychology, and behavioral economics that elicit people’s attitudes toward various social risks. This literature review finds more evidence against than in favor of catastrophe aversion. We address a number of possible behavioral explanations for these observations, then turn to social choice theory to examine how various social welfare functions handle catastrophic risk. We explain why catastrophe aversion may be in conflict with equity concerns and other-regarding preferences. Finally, we discuss current approaches to evaluate and regulate catastrophic risk, with a discussion of how it could be integrated into a benefit-cost analysis framework.
Download or read book Averting Catastrophe written by Cass R Sunstein and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Best-selling author Cass R. Sunstein examines how to avoid worst-case scenarios The world is increasingly confronted with new challenges related to climate change, globalization, disease, and technology. Governments are faced with having to decide how much risk is worth taking, how much destruction and death can be tolerated, and how much money should be invested in the hopes of avoiding catastrophe. Lacking full information, should decision-makers focus on avoiding the most catastrophic outcomes? When should extreme measures be taken to prevent as much destruction as possible? Averting Catastrophe explores how governments ought to make decisions in times of imminent disaster. Cass R. Sunstein argues that using the “maximin rule,” which calls for choosing the approach that eliminates the worst of the worst-case scenarios, may be necessary when public officials lack important information, and when the worst-case scenario is too disastrous to contemplate. He underscores this argument by emphasizing the reality of “Knightian uncertainty,” found in circumstances in which it is not possible to assign probabilities to various outcomes. Sunstein brings foundational issues in decision theory in close contact with real problems in regulation, law, and daily life, and considers other potential future risks. At once an approachable introduction to decision-theory and a provocative argument for how governments ought to handle risk, Averting Catastrophe offers a definitive path forward in a world rife with uncertainty.
Download or read book Prioritarianism in Practice written by Matthew D. Adler and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-21 with total page 687 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prioritarianism is a systematic framework for analyzing governmental policy that gives extra weight to the well-being of the worse off.
Download or read book Future Survey Annual 1987 written by Michael Marien and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 1988-01-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wicked Environmental Problems written by Peter J. Balint and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-06-22 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Wicked" problems are large-scale, long-term policy dilemmas in which multiple and compounding risks and uncertainties combine with sharply divergent public values to generate contentious political stalemates; wicked problems in the environmental arena typically emerge from entrenched conflicts over natural resource management and over the prioritization of economic and conservation goals more generally. This new book examines past experience and future directions in the management of wicked environmental problems and describes new strategies for mitigating the conflicts inherent in these seemingly intractable situations. The book: reviews the history of the concept of wicked problems examines the principles and processes that managers have applied explores the practical limitations of various approaches Most important, the book reviews current thinking on the way forward, focusing on the implementation of "learning networks," in which public managers, technical experts, and public stakeholders collaborate in decision-making processes that are analytic, iterative, and deliberative. Case studies of forest management in the Sierra Nevada, restoration of the Florida Everglades, carbon trading in the European Union, and management of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania are used to explain concepts and demonstrate practical applications. Wicked Environmental Problems offers new approaches for managing environmental conflicts and shows how managers could apply these approaches within common, real-world statutory decision-making frameworks. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with managing environmental problems.
Download or read book Valuing the Environment Methodological and Measurement Issues written by Rüdiger Pethig and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-14 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the last decades, environmental economics as a science has been very successful in improving our understanding of environment-economy interdepen dence. Using conventional economic methodology, environmental aspects have been explicitly incorporated into economic models making use of the concept of externality. This concept was already familiar to economists long before evidence of severe environmental deterioration found its way into the headlines and peo ple's awareness. But before that time, external effects were not considered as being empirically very relevant, they seemed to be -like the example of the bees and the fruit trees - somewhat bucolic in nature. All that changed dramatically when it was no longer possible (or easy) to ignore the large-scale environmental disruption with its negative feedback on consumers and producers caused by growing pollution and excessive use of environmental resources. In diagnosing the discrepancy between private and social cost as the cause of the problem, the externality paradigm proved very useful. The correct diagnosis implies the straightforward cure to internalise all external cost, namely the damage cost of pollution. But it is one thing to identify the qualitative nature of the problem at an abstract conceptual level and quite another thing to place specific money values on pollution damage and society's valuation of the environment, respectively, in the context of specific pollution (control) problems. Very often it is controversial not only how inefficient the no-policy situation is but also what exactly the net benefit of any public action of reducing pollution is.
Download or read book Law and Liberty in the War on Terror written by Andrew Lynch and published by Federation Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can we ensure national security against people unafraid to kill themselves along with their victims - people who, self-evidently, will not be deterred by traditional laws which punish offenders after their crimes are committed. This is the challenge for liberal democracies such as Australia. New laws specifically designed to forestall terrorist activity have been a key response. Law and Liberty in the War on Terror describes these laws and debates both their effectiveness and impact on civil liberties. International and domestic commentators from the fields of government, law and political science address questions such as: How does the law define 'terrorism'? Can the criminal justice system accommodate preparatory terrorism offences? Is torture ever acceptable as an interrogative method? What is the role of the judiciary in times of emergency? How do Australia's anti-terrorism laws compare with those of the United Kingdom and New Zealand? How are Australian communities and politics affected by responses to terrorism?"[I] n this book, proponents of the new anti-terrorism laws seek to justify their provisions and opponents argue that the laws go too far. These chapters also show the extent of the changes that have been made to our legal and administrative structures. ... The chapters in this book cannot be dismissed as mere academic analyses. They have to do with the lives and aspirations of all Australians. They ask whether Australia is, and whether it will be, a united, secure, free and confident nation." - Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE, former Chief Justice of Australia
Download or read book An Economic Analysis of Severe Industrial Hazards written by Immo Querner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: and Acknowledgments Apparently almost every other month severe industrial hazards invade our living rooms, be it in terms of an ex post report or in terms of an alarming scenario, be it in a remote corner of the world or just in front of our doorstep. Although the invasion of our living rooms is mostly only via printed or electronic media (as opposed to personally experienced tragedies), people in the western hemissphere seem to be concerned, and so are politics and science. Given that welfare-economics has played (or is about to play) a helpful role in terms of analyzing and rationalizing "political" issues (such as the environment, education, or the law) that had been deemed too soft, too psychological, too value-laden, or too political, a book about the economics of catastrophic industrial hazards and their prevention will hardly come as a surprise. However, what are the precise obj ecti ves of this book? For a start, the author intends to argue the welfare-economic relevance of severe industrial hazards, both from a theoretical as well as from a very down-to-earth perspecti ve. Secondly, it shall be demonstrated that and how the problem can be theoretically dealt with, without really departing from standard micro-economics, in particular the "Pareto principle" and, when it comes to very small "collective" physical risks, the well established "von Neumann-Morgenstern" framework.
Download or read book Safety Design for Space Operations written by Firooz Allahdadi and published by Butterworth-Heinemann. This book was released on 2013-03-24 with total page 1071 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Endorsed by the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS) and drawing on the expertise of the world’s leading experts in the field, Safety Design for Space Operations provides the practical how-to guidance and knowledge base needed to facilitate effective launch-site and operations safety in line with current regulations. With information on space operations safety design currently disparate and difficult to find in one place, this unique reference brings together essential material on: Best design practices relating to space operations, such as the design of spaceport facilities. Advanced analysis methods, such as those used to calculate launch and re-entry debris fall-out risk. Implementation of safe operation procedures, such as on-orbit space traffic management. Safety considerations relating to the general public and the environment in addition to personnel and asset protection. Taking in launch operations safety relating unmanned missions, such as the launch of probes and commercial satellites, as well as manned missions, Safety Design for Space Operations provides a comprehensive reference for engineers and technical managers within aerospace and high technology companies, space agencies, spaceport operators, satellite operators and consulting firms. Fully endorsed by the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), with contributions from leading experts at NASA, the European Space Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), amongst others Covers all aspects of space operations relating to safety of the general public, as well as the protection of valuable assets and the environment Focuses on launch operations safety relating to manned and unmanned missions, such as the launch of probes and commercial satellites
Download or read book Worst Case Scenarios written by Cass R. Sunstein and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear bombs in suitcases, anthrax bacilli in ventilators, tsunamis and meteors, avian flu, scorchingly hot temperatures: nightmares that were once the plot of Hollywood movies are now frighteningly real possibilities. How can we steer a path between willful inaction and reckless overreaction? Cass Sunstein explores these and other worst-case scenarios and how we might best prevent them in this vivid, illuminating, and highly original analysis. Singling out the problems of terrorism and climate change, Sunstein explores our susceptibility to two opposite and unhelpful reactions: panic and utter neglect. He shows how private individuals and public officials might best respond to low-probability risks of disaster—emphasizing the need to know what we will lose from precautions as well as from inaction. Finally, he offers an understanding of the uses and limits of cost–benefit analysis, especially when current generations are imposing risks on future generations. Throughout, Sunstein uses climate change as a defining case, because it dramatically illustrates the underlying principles. But he also discusses terrorism, depletion of the ozone layer, genetic modification of food, hurricanes, and worst-case scenarios faced in our ordinary lives. Sunstein concludes that if we can avoid the twin dangers of overreaction and apathy, we will be able to ameliorate if not avoid future catastrophes, retaining our sanity as well as scarce resources that can be devoted to more constructive ends.
Download or read book The Limits of Safety written by Scott Douglas Sagan and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental tragedies such as Chernobyl and the Exxon Valdez remind us that catastrophic accidents are always possible in a world full of hazardous technologies. Yet, the apparently excellent safety record with nuclear weapons has led scholars, policy-makers, and the public alike to believe that nuclear arsenals can serve as a secure deterrent for the foreseeable future. In this provocative book, Scott Sagan challenges such optimism. Sagan's research into formerly classified archives penetrates the veil of safety that has surrounded U.S. nuclear weapons and reveals a hidden history of frightening "close calls" to disaster.
Download or read book Strategic Management of Technological Learning written by Elias Carayannis and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-10-08 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do companies such as BMW, Airbus Industrie, and Bayer leverage technology and learn to thrive where others fail? This book provides a one-stop resource on technology, innovation, and knowledge management. It gives you a tool for gaining short-term, case-specific insight and long-term, industry-wide understanding of the best technology management and learning policies and practices. The Strategic Management of Technological Learning explores a portfolio of case studies on technology-driven-but not exclusively high-tech-companies that have an overall long-term record of success and prosperity. Through in-depth interviews with industry practitioners, the author empirically identifies the presence of Strategic or Active Incrementalism. The following chart shows the studied firms, which operate at high risk and uncertainty, very dynamic, and technologically intensive business environments:
Download or read book Safety Design for Space Operations written by Paul D. Wilde and published by Elsevier Inc. Chapters. This book was released on 2013-03-24 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the beginning of humankind’s use of space, human-made objects have re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and experienced the severe aerodynamic heating and loads characteristic of high-speed atmospheric re-entry. Some of these reentries have generated fragments that survived to impact the Earth’s surface and be hazardous to people and damaging to property. This chapter addresses the safety of both broad types of space hardware re-entries: either controlled so impact is targeted in a specific area, or uncontrolled, where re-entry can occur anywhere within the latitude band defined by the orbital inclination of the reentering object. The overall objective of this chapter is to help prepare safety engineers to answer the ultimate questions involved in the design of safety re-entry operations.
Download or read book Economics of Natural Disasters written by Prarthna Agarwal Goel and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ultimate Resource written by Julian Lincoln Simon and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lively answer to those who sound alarms about population growth and resource use The Ultimate Resource challenges conventional beliefs about the scarcity of energy and natural resources, the pollution of the environment, and the perils of overpopulation for our standard of living. In this provocative book, Julian Lincoln Simon argues that natural resources are not finite in any meaningful way, and that using such resources now will not slow the rate of future economic growth. In the short run, all resources are limited. A greater use of any resource means pressure on its supply and hence an increased price. In the long run, however, history shows that human creativity overcomes natural obstacles to economic growth and leads to a lower cost and price than before. The ultimate resource, Simon contends, is the human imagination coupled to the human spirit. This timely book will fundamentally change how you think about a host of issues, from immigration and human fertility to forecasts of population change and the use of taxpayer dollars for population control. The Ultimate Resource demonstrates that the primary constraint on our national and world economic growth is our capacity for the creation of new ideas. The more people who can be trained to help solve the problems that confront us, the faster we might remove the obstacles, and the greater the economic inheritance we can bequeath to our descendants.
Download or read book Obstructive Marketing written by Maitland Hyslop and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-05-23 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Obstructive Marketing, Maitland Hyslop deals with a very negative kind of activity which embraces activities, legal or otherwise, designed to prevent or restrict the distribution of a product or service, temporarily or permanently, against the wishes of the product manufacturer, service provider or customer. When the author defined this phenomenon as Obstructive Marketing and started to research it more than a decade ago, it was seen as a valid concept that was perhaps ahead of its time. The World has moved on and in the era of globalization a study of this negative aspect of marketing is now required. Obstructive Marketing is now seen as the business equivalent of asymmetric warfare, which is increasingly understood because the rise of the South and East at the expense of the North and West has brought some Obstructive Marketing stratagems into sharp focus. Using the author’s own research, this book explains what Obstructive Marketing is and why it is not called Anti-Marketing. The author explains who practises Obstructive Marketing, where, when and how; and why businesses are particularly vulnerable when entering new markets and engaging in change and innovation. Intriguing concepts such as cultural risk are illuminated along with formal links between Obstructive Marketing, asymmetric warfare and terrorism. This all leads to identification of the need for a strong Government/Business partnership to counter the effects of this darkest kind of marketing.
Download or read book Tools for Making Acute Risk Decisions written by CCPS (Center for Chemical Process Safety) and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-09-14 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The complexity of today's risk decisions is well known. Beyond cost and risk there are many other factors contributing to these decisions, including type of risk (such as human injury or fatality), the economic impact on the local community, profitability, availability of capital, alternatives for reducing or eliminating the risk, costs of implementing alternatives, codes, standards, regulation, and good industry practice. This book presents a large range of decision aids for risk analysts and decision makers in industry so that vital decisions can be made in a more consistent, logical, and rigorous manner. Though primarily aimed at the process industry, this book can be used by anyone who makes similar decisions in other industries, including those in management science.
