Averting Catastrophe, Cass R. Sunstein
Averting Catastrophe, Cass R. Sunstein
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Averting Catastrophe
Decision Theory for COVID-19, Climate Change, and Potential Disasters of All Kinds

Author: Cass R. Sunstein

Narrator: David Marantz

Unabridged: 3 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/15/2021


Synopsis

The world is increasingly confronted with new challenges related to climate change, globalization, disease, and technology. Governments are faced with having to decide how much risk is worth taking, how much destruction and death can be tolerated, and how much money should be invested in the hopes of avoiding catastrophe. Lacking full information, should decision-makers focus on avoiding the most catastrophic outcomes? When should extreme measures be taken to prevent as much destruction as possible?

Averting Catastrophe explores how governments ought to make decisions in times of imminent disaster. Cass R. Sunstein argues that using the "maximin rule," which calls for choosing the approach that eliminates the worst of the worst-case scenarios, may be necessary when public officials lack important information, and when the worst-case scenario is too disastrous to contemplate. He underscores this argument by emphasizing the reality of "Knightian uncertainty," found in circumstances in which it is not possible to assign probabilities to various outcomes. At once an approachable introduction to decision-theory and a provocative argument for how governments ought to handle risk, Averting Catastrophe offers a definitive path forward in a world rife with uncertainty.

About Cass R. Sunstein

Cass R. Sunstein is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School. From 2009 to 2012, he was administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Since that time, he has served in the US government in several different roles. Adviser to many nations and international organizations, he is the author of Nudge (with Richard H. Thaler), Noise (with Daniel Kahneman and Olivier Sibony), The World According to Star Wars, and Wiser (with Reid Hastie).


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris

Very interesting reading right now......more

Goodreads review by Ann

(3.5/5) It's a short book on catastrophe. The book is well-written even for me that is not an expert on policy making. The author clearly explains on some event that occurs very rarely yet can't be measure by probabilistic method. He points our several way in order to assess the cost and risk in ord......more

Goodreads review by Venky

Bestselling author Cass Sunstein in his short, albeit interesting work, attempts to amalgamate the process of regulation with the science of decision theory, with a view to arriving at solutions for improbable occurrences that leave decision makers totally unprepared, such as pandemics and climate c......more

Goodreads review by Richard

A short book of just over 100 pages, but don’t let the length deceive you. There’s a lot here. The author’s focus is on decision making related to regulatory policy under conditions of uncertainty. Salient examples cited fall into environmental and health (read: pandemic) policy categories. I read th......more

Goodreads review by Jana

Cass R. Sunstein puts forward various frameworks policy-makers may face where there is not enough information available. That makes the decision very difficult, kind of walking in the darkness, looking for an exit, scenario. Various principles are discussed. This brings the reader close to how such......more