How Much Do You Cost?

Here is a good article from PAE that critiques the use basic cost-benefit analysis for public policy. "How could something so basic and foundational to neoclassical economic analysis be inappropriate, or, dare I say, inadequate for public policy prescriptions?" you may ask. Well here is how: for cost-benefit analysis to "work" everything being analyzed must be given a monetary value. This might not be difficult when you are deciding whether to buy that late-night quarter dog (cost: $0.25 plus $2.00 for a bottle of pepto bismol = $2.25. benefit: hunger satisfaction = priceless). It gets a little more difficult when you are dealing with things like PEOPLE. How do you put a price on human beings? What is the "cost" of somebody dying due to lack of medical insurance. What is the "cost" or poor education or environmental degradation? Are different people worth different amount? Are "smarter" people worth more than "dumber" people? Do white people carry a premium? Looking at current public policy, this is the sort of logic that seems to be applied.