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by cjbprime 4804 days ago
> What's the maximum reasonable spend to catch a bomber, for an efficient force? $1M? $100k?

The US has a "value of a statistical life"[1] of around $7M, and they had already killed 4 people and injured over a hundred more, so $50M seems like it would be very easily justified.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life
2 comments
ck2 4804 days ago
So you are saying the 27 people killed by a bomber in Iraq today were worth less than the 4 killed in Boston?

My point was this was one person (okay, two brothers originally) what would have happened if it was a team of people who were organized and actually secretive and didn't use twitter or live out in the open?

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cjbprime 4804 days ago
> So you are saying the 27 people killed by a bomber in Iraq today were worth less than the 4 killed in Boston?

No, the United States Government is saying that, by using the Value of a Statistical Life that they use. So I'm telling you that (by their own terms) they can justify spending a lot of their money on catching someone who has killed several people and intends to kill more.

I do not agree that it makes sense to value US lives at $7M each and developing world lives at apparently less than $2000 each (the approximate price of saving one according to GiveWell). But that's what the link I cited says is the case here.

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cdash 4804 days ago
I would have to include the economical cost of shutting down a city for an entire day in the cost of the operation as well, I am not sure what that would be though.
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cjbprime 4804 days ago
Obviously it depends on the GDP of the city -- in this case, perhaps we could ballpark $100M.

I'm not sure this adequately captures it, though; the bombers are said to have talked in front of their carjacking victim about planning to escape to NYC. Shouldn't we include some expected value term of the cost of shutting down NYC, in case they moved there and had to be hunted there too? Seems like the entire country/world has an interest in seeing them caught here.

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cdash 4804 days ago
Yea I think you would have to include that, its obviously a very complex situation and next to impossible because it requires a lot of uncertainties if you were to try to base a decision purely on monetary value of a life.
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