Ultimate Price

How much is a human life worth? Individuals, families, companies, and governments routinely place a price on human life every day. The calculations that underlie these price tags are often buried in technical language yet influence our economy, our laws, our behaviors, our policies, our health and our safety.
These price tags are often unfair. They are infused with gender, racial, national, and cultural biases that often result in valuing the lives of the young more than the old, the rich more than the poor, whites more than blacks, Americans more than foreigners, and relatives more than strangers. This is critical since undervalued lives are left underprotected and more exposed to risks.
Howard Steven Friedman explains in simple terms how economists, corporations, regulators, and insurance companies develop and use these price tags and points a spotlight at their logical flaws and limitations. He then forcefully argues against the rampant unfairness in the system. Readers will be enlightened, shocked, and, ultimately, empowered to confront the price tags we assign to human life and why they matter.