{"id":3976,"date":"2011-11-01T10:12:29","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T10:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=publication&#038;p=3976"},"modified":"2024-09-18T17:44:04","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T16:44:04","slug":"government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/","title":{"rendered":"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><h2>Working Paper 67<\/h2>\n<h3>Abstract<\/h3>\n<p>The conceptual basis and numerical quantification of the time discount rate (or rates) to use for public sector analysis have been debated for over half a century.<\/p>\n<p>This paper addresses those aspects that are in principle amenable to formal analysis, with minimal need for judgements about ethics or administrative practicability. These include controversies, many of them very long lasting, about the discounting of quantities measured in the numeraire of marginal utility, about the opportunity cost of public capital and current spending, and about the relevance of equity risk premia to government appraisal.<\/p>\n<p>It is concluded that, while current UK government practice in these respects is sound, some positions that are still supported widely elsewhere do not stand up to close examination, but are likely to continue to be held as matters of faith.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Spackman<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<?xml encoding=\"UTF-8\"><p>Working Paper 67 Abstract The conceptual basis and numerical quantification of the time discount rate (or rates) to use for&hellip;<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tags":[214,106],"publication-type":[435],"topic_area":[4694,4696],"class_list":["post-3976","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry","tag-discounting","tag-uk-policy","publication-type-working-papers","topic_area-policy-evaluation","topic_area-uk-emissions-policy"],"acf":{"downloads":{"ref_value":"field_52f16cc1a80f2","value":["https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/WP67_government-discounting-controversies_1.pdf"],"type":"download","post_type":""},"profile_link":{"ref_value":"field_52f164b5189e9","value":["michael-spackman"],"type":"relationship","post_type":"profile"},"spotlight":{"ref_value":"field_52f80896506d3","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""},"exclude_from_sync":{"ref_value":"field_560538b0e7350","value":"0","type":false,"post_type":""},"rss_newsletter":{"ref_value":"field_54f5c2c1544d8","value":"","type":false,"post_type":""},"show_translations_widget":{"ref_value":"field_6203d588c41e8","value":"0","type":false,"post_type":""}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Working Paper 67 Abstract The conceptual basis and numerical quantification of the time discount rate (or rates) to use for...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-18T16:44:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\\\/\",\"name\":\"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-01T10:12:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-18T16:44:04+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication\\\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Publications\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/?post_type=publication\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"All research\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication-type\\\/new-research\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Working paper\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/publication-type\\\/working-papers\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment\",\"description\":\"The Grantham Research Institute at LSE carries out world-class research on climate change and the environment.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lse.ac.uk\\\/granthaminstitute\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","og_description":"Working Paper 67 Abstract The conceptual basis and numerical quantification of the time discount rate (or rates) to use for...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/","og_site_name":"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","article_modified_time":"2024-09-18T16:44:04+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/","name":"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-01T10:12:29+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-18T16:44:04+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication\/government-discounting-controversies-changing-prices-opportunity-costs-and-systematic-risk-working-paper-67\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Publications","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=publication"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"All research","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication-type\/new-research\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Working paper","item":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/publication-type\/working-papers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Government discounting controversies: changing prices, opportunity costs and systematic risk"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/","name":"Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment","description":"The Grantham Research Institute at LSE carries out world-class research on climate change and the environment.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"taxonomies":{"post_tag":["discounting","UK policy"],"publication-type":["Working paper"],"topic_area":["Policy evaluation","UK emissions policy"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/3976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publication"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/3976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74585,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/3976\/revisions\/74585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3976"},{"taxonomy":"publication-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication-type?post=3976"},{"taxonomy":"topic_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic_area?post=3976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}