"As an economist, it was painful to sit at the Delta Protection Commission meeting last week and listen to Jerry Meral's five minute answer to a question about benefit-cost analysis and the BDCP. My understanding is that there have been similar exchanges at various meetings. The problem isn't just his answer, the questions are often unclear, and even Allison Huber's failed bill wasn't very clear about the analysis she wanted the LAO to do.
To keep these conversations simple in the future, I recommend the question be phrased in the future as a simple yes/no question that relies on the Department of Water Resources' Economic Analysis Guidebook for definition of the terms. It's not the only source for this, but it is pretty good, and it should be acceptable to Dr. Meral and the Resources Agency since it is their guidebook.
The guidebook is clear about the key difference in benefit-cost analysis and financial feasibility analysis. The key definitions from the executive summary are:"
Continue reading..........
http://valleyecon.blogspot.com/2012/02/economic-benefit-cost-analysis-vs.html
To keep these conversations simple in the future, I recommend the question be phrased in the future as a simple yes/no question that relies on the Department of Water Resources' Economic Analysis Guidebook for definition of the terms. It's not the only source for this, but it is pretty good, and it should be acceptable to Dr. Meral and the Resources Agency since it is their guidebook.
The guidebook is clear about the key difference in benefit-cost analysis and financial feasibility analysis. The key definitions from the executive summary are:"
Continue reading..........
http://valleyecon.blogspot.com/2012/02/economic-benefit-cost-analysis-vs.html