That’s a fair point. I guess the thought experiment could be something like: the department is responsible for some set of people’s welfare 50 years from now. We have to either convince that department to have a lower discount rate 50 years from now, or adopt some measures such that the people born 50 years from now will have doubled the consumption (relative to the counterfactual)?
If that’s right, the discount rate thing still seems easier. It seems hard to double consumption over a 50 year period, though definitely easier than doubling it immediately.
That’s a fair point. I guess the thought experiment could be something like: the department is responsible for some set of people’s welfare 50 years from now. We have to either convince that department to have a lower discount rate 50 years from now, or adopt some measures such that the people born 50 years from now will have doubled the consumption (relative to the counterfactual)?
If that’s right, the discount rate thing still seems easier. It seems hard to double consumption over a 50 year period, though definitely easier than doubling it immediately.