Modelling costs and benefits in uncertainty

Three easy uses of CBA to clarify implications of uncertainty and support better decision-making

There’s an old (and thoroughly unfair) joke about a mathematician, a statistician, and an economist. Upon being asked what 2+2 equals, the mathematician says 4, the statistician says 4 give or take a bit, and the economist says, “what do you want the answer to be”?

There’s some truth to the accusation that cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can be wielded as a…