"Your money or your life." The choice traditionally presented by the highwayman（拦路强盗） is supposed to have only one sensible answer. Money is, after all, no use to a corpse. Yet economists often study something rather like the highwayman's offer in an attempt to uncover the answer to an
Like many awkward（尴尬的） questions, this is one that has to be answered. Safety regulations save lives but also raise the cost of doing business, a cost we all pay through higher prices. Are they worth it? Our taxes pay for life-saving spending on road safety and fire fighting. Are they high enough, or too high?
So how much are we willing to spend to save a life? A traditional planner's approach used to be to measure the value of wages lost due to death or injury. That's dreadful: it confuses what I think my life is worth with what my boss thinks my life is worth.
So an alternative is to ask people how much they would pay for a safer car or kitchen cleaner. But such surveys do not always produce sensible results. Our answers depend on whether we're being offered a safer? 10 household cleaner and then asked if we want the more dangerous? 5 version, or whether we're offered the? 5 brand and then asked if we'll pay? 10 for the safer product. People often answer "no" to both questions, contradicting themselves. These inconsistencies mean that we're either irrational or lying to pollsters, and perhaps both.
Economists therefore tend to prefer observing real choices. More orthodox（正统的） approaches look at career choices: if you're willing to be a lumberjack（伐木工人）, part of that decision is to accept risk in exchange for financial reward.
相关单词：corpse
corpse解释：n.尸体，死尸
corpse例句：
What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。
相关单词：economists
economists解释：n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )
economists例句：
The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
相关单词：awkward
awkward解释：adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的
awkward例句：
John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。
相关单词：dreadful
dreadful解释：adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的
dreadful例句：
I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。
相关单词：contradicting
contradicting解释：v.反驳，否认…的真实性( contradict的现在分词 )；与…发生矛盾，与…抵触
contradicting例句：
She had a very positive manner, never minded contradicting people flatly. 她专横自信，动辄顶撞别人。 来自辞典例句
These two factors were an entity while seemed contradicting. 这二个因素是个体，当似乎抗辩时。 来自互联网
相关单词：irrational
irrational解释：adj.无理性的，失去理性的
irrational例句：
After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。
相关单词：orthodox
orthodox解释：adj.正统的，传统的，惯常的
orthodox例句：
They are orthodox Jews.他们是正统的犹太教徒。
His ideas are very orthodox.他的思想非常合乎规范。
