It s the return of cost-benefit analysis. Bush s choice for the position is Harvard professor John D. Graham. The business community is pleased with the choice of Graham. Graham is a big believer in cost-benefit analysis and a proponent of calculating the costs to businesses whenever new government regulations are created.
Businesses have reason to be pleased.
Graham s faith in cost-benefit analysis, however, is somewhat troubling. An artificial discount rate is used to calculate what the costs and benefits may be in the long run. John Graham puts a lot of faith in this method. While cost-benefit analysis can, if in the right hands, help to slow the progress of the modern nanny state, its inherently utilitarian foundations can act as a great justifier for government intervention. A cost-benefit analysis could easily be constructed that shows that a national income floor could save the nation all kinds of costs in health care, crime prevention, and remedial education.