{
  "id": "source:current-problems-the-exchange-rate-problem",
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  "path": "src/content/problems/the-exchange-rate-problem.md",
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  "text": "---\ntitle: \"The Exchange Rate Problem\"\nnumber: 2\nstatement: \"Can outcomes in different causes (a life saved, a species protected, a law changed, a child educated) be compared on a common scale, and where must comparison stop?\"\nprogress: \"A comparison method that people holding different moral frameworks accept as fair for at least some pairs of causes, with the pairs it can’t compare stated openly.\"\nconditions: [\"single-lens\"]\nstatus: open\nbounty: \"Unfunded. The Question Bounties program will attach prizes once it is funded.\"\n---\n\n## Why it matters\n\nEvery choice between two causes is an exchange rate, whether or not anyone writes it down. Writing it down lets people argue about it.\n\n## Where to start\n\nHealth economics already compares treatments with quality- and disability-adjusted life years. Wellbeing research proposes life-satisfaction measures. Each scale carries a moral framework inside it. The work is to map which scales each framework accepts and where every scale breaks down. Charitology’s [frameworks data](/tools/public-api/) is a place to begin.\n",
  "hash": "d0edf1ee42be1ae81d1701fdc2e8ece79638c482f06d032ff0fb65bd9be566c7"
}