A controversy recently erupted when a cost benefit analysis, conducted by the EPA, valued seniors' lives 37 percent less than the lives of younger people.  Derided by critics as a "senior death discount," the formula estimated the worth of someone over 70 at $2.3 million, and the worth of a younger person at $3.7 million. The EPA administrator quickly backed down after the ensuing sudden uproar and announced that the agency would never value seniors' lives differently from anyone else's.

Federal regulations often put a price-tag on lives in order to determine the relative costs and benefits of live saving investments, but there is little agreement on the right way to do it.  The Joint Center has assembled a distinguished panel to explore different ways of evaluating these investments and how those approaches affect public policy decisions.