Irreversibility is where concern for future generations genuinely bites: irreversible losses (e.g., the Grand Canyon or a starlit sky) that deprive future generations of options with no good substitutes warrant special weight—but an irreversible loss should not be treated as infinitely valuable, and many feared harms (like skin cancer) will likely be cured within a century.

normativepending

Speaker

Russ Roberts

Evidence Quote

where the future generation thing does bite is irreversibility obviously if we destroy the Grand Canyon or ... the starlit sky and deprive future generations of that there aren't good substitutes for that ... but we shouldn't think that an irreversible loss is an infinitely valuable loss

Source

Cass Sunstein on Worst-case Scenarios 11/19/2007EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:17:23 AM

My Notes

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