On Jan 25, 2010, at 4:23 PM, Max Sawicky wrote:
We've had this argument before. Naturally social values and
democratic input are basic.
But if, say, you want to consider building some new public facility
and you don't want to waste a pile of money, you ought to be
interested in how many people might actually use it, what it might be
worth to them, what external costs and benefits might ensue. You
can't expect to glean such information from public debates. In such
debates private parties, both disinterested and those with an axe to
grind, will serve up such information. Why shouldn't the government
conduct its own analysis?
But of course it should, provided that the important questions, "how
many people might actually use it, what it might be worth to them,
what external costs and benefits might ensue" are posed in terms of
social utility and as a contribution to a *democratic*, not
administrative, decision-making process.
Shane Mage
This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
kindling in measures and going out in measures."
Herakleitos of Ephesos
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