The political economy of cost-benefit analysis, over the years

Talk by Michael Livermore, 2023-2024 Paris IAS Fellow, for the LabEx DynamiTe seminar at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Closed event.

Presentation

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an important techno-governance methodology that is used by decisionmakers to evaluate public policy in a wide range of domains. CBA has been particularly influential in the United States, where presidents have for decades required that all major regulations pass a cost-benefit test. Since its inception, CBA methodology has been affected by its institutional and political setting. An ironic feature of CBA in the U.S., however, is that the political valence of the method has shifted over time. What was once perceived as a neoliberal imposition by Republican administrations is now frequently used by environmental advocates and Democratic administrations to support the ecological transition. This talk will explore this history and its implication for our understanding of the role of politics, interests, and values in shaping the tools of technocratic governance.