ABSTRACT
The job of the professional consulting economist is to improve decision making. Only too often the only decision posed to an economist is whether or not to build a dam that has already been sited and designed. In this situation, the economist is usually required to place some sort of value upon the proposed investment—a benefit-cost ratio or a present net worth estimate 1 . If this value is high enough it is concluded that the dam should be built. This is a poor way of making decisions when the alternatives are many and complex and it involves a most inefficient—even dangerous—use of an economist.
