Memo from | To:

JOSHUA LED]. RBERG

| JANG 1971

Ken Arrow

\

Me

P.S. on cost of radiation

-~--I did not misunderstand the distinction
you stressed between flow and stock; though
my recasting of the statement in terms of a
descendant's perceptions might well lead you
to think so. In order to avoid the confusion
that may arise, owing to the diffusion in time,
between the future annual cost per present
rad (per man); the future total cost, dis-
counted also, per radjand the future annual’
cost per annum per rad per annum;

I did think it best to factér out the
time factor then, to allow a statement in terms
of a discounted cost per rad (per capita now
exposed).

The real point of this postscript is to ask
you for some references on what economists
think about long-range discounting, i.e., to
future generations. (I know Boulding has made an
ethical imperative out of this). What is known
empirically about economic behavior on this point

 

 

GES
(Go PROFESSOR JOSHUA LEDERBERG

Department of Genetics
School of Medicine
Stanford University
Stanford, California 94305