Value for money: How to improve wellbeing and reduce misery

David Frayman, Christian Krekel, Richard Layard, Sara MacLennan and Isaac Parkes

CEP Reports from Centre for Economic Performance, LSE

Abstract: The government spends billions on our behalf. How do we want this money to be spent? This report reviews a range of policies and asks the fundamental question which should be asked of every policy: Does it deliver value for money? In other words, what benefit does it deliver to people relative to its net cost to the government. This benefit/cost ratio is the key single number the government should be looking at when it makes its spending decisions. In each case the benefits are measured in terms of the monetary equivalent of the impact of the policy in improving wellbeing. And the costs include an allowance for savings in subsequent years.

Keywords: wellbeing; public spending; community wellbeing; mental health; schools; apprenticeships; police; crime; research and development; roads; rail; pension; house building; planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-09-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:cepsps:44

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