Why Americans Insist on Putting a Price Tag on Life
From Ben Franklin to Slavery to Reaganomics, Our Habit of Measuring Everything in Dollars and Cents
Everything, as they say in America, has its price. It has been found that a lack of sleep costs the American economy $411 billion a year and stress another $300 billion. Countless other studies have calculated the annual cost of pain ($560 million), heart disease ($309 billion), cancer ($243 billion), and diabetes ($188 billion). Surf the web at work sometimes? That costs the American people $63 billion a year. Did you show up hungover as well? Tack on another $77 billion.
And while you may not know it, the …
