this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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The US federal government values the average citizen's life at something like ~$12 million. This is mostly for policy like if 1,000 people a year die from something, say an unsafe ferris wheel design, a solution that would save them costing more than (1,000*12,000,000=)$12 billion would be rejected and considered not worth the economic cost. If the solution were cheaper, and cost like $500 million, then with good lobbying and a reasonable administration, it could easily become a new regulation.
Generally speaking if 5 anybodies went down like this submersible, you'd expect at least some millions to be spent in recovery missions.
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2020/07/17/870483369/your-life-is-worth-10-million-according-to-the-government
The ~$12 million figure is what the NHTSA is currently using for its purposes.
That's the problem, we allow our governments to treat people differently based on where they happen to have been born.