Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Eddie Bolland
“What is the chance that you die from an asteroid striking the Earth? Well it turns out that the odds of dying due to an asteroid are higher than you may think, at around 1 in 250,000. How could we respond to this? There are 3 things to consider when looking at potential responses: Cost — this one is quite simple. How much do the different proposals cost in relation to their supposed effectiveness? Trade-Offs — for an intervention to be beneficial the weighted reduction in risk must be greater for the initial risk. Risk-risk trade-offs can regularly be seen in decisions relating to health, the environment and government regulation. Timeline — if you’re a government, and you don’t imagine an asteroid will strike the Earth in the next century, there’s probably an incentive to palm this off to the next administration.” (03/02/23)