Endangered Species...Drop Dead!

Are endangered species priceless or worthless? This question was raised by 8,000 experts for the Zoological Society of London and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because the species closest to extinction often don't have an obvious economic value.

On the face of it, this seems like a harsh assessment; however, it is merely an application of the fundamental guns-butter tradeoff we all learn in ECON 101.

Do we spend vast resources on a few hard to save species, at the expense of saving many others? Do we save species with less immediate value to us, as opposed to enhancing the numbers of those that yield more value? Do we expend many more resources for the sake of other species, while human suffering and disease are neglected?

Tough questions to be sure, but questions we must ask and answer, since doing nothing and hoping for the best isn't necessarily going to yield the best result.