09 Jul After reading Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, please apply utilitarianism to the case below.

After reading Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill, please apply utilitarianism to the case below. Then using the reading and case study apply the Best Outcomes; The Utility Test (see below).

“Robert Litan, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served in the Clinton administration, has advanced the most robust plan by suggesting paying people $1000 for vaccination, ideally not subject to taxes. Litan acknowledges that there is no evidence for his $1000 figure but argues anything less is unlikely to suffice. To avoid holdouts, he recommends the government commit up front to not increasing payment. To ensure that enough people are vaccinated, Litan suggests paying $200 initially when the individual accepts vaccination while conditioning payment of the remaining $800 on reaching a national vaccine uptake threshold. The intent of withholding the balance is to generate social pressure; those eager to be paid will encourage friends and family to be immunized. The estimated cost for this proposal would be approximately $275 billion, which Litan describes as a “bargain” compared with the economic effects of the pandemic lingering. Litan’s proposal has been endorsed by Greg Mankiw, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President George W. Bush, as well as Nobel Prize winner Paul Romer, economist Steven Levitt, and Wall Street Journal editorialist Jason Riley. 

John Delaney, a former congressman from Maryland and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has suggested paying every individual in the US who provides proof of vaccination $1500 via check or direct deposit. If every adult took advantage of this program, the estimated cost would be approximately $383 billion. Delaney contends that his plan is “worth the cost” because it would save lives, provide “relief to struggling Americans [and]…accelerate the reopening of the economy.” Another 2020 presidential hopeful, Andrew Yang, tweeted his approval of Delaney’s plan.”

Source: Largent EA, Miller FG. Problems With Paying People to Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19. JAMA. 2021;325(6):534–535. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.27121

Best Outcomes – The Utility Test

STEP 1:  Identify the alternative actions that are possible and the persons and groups (the stakeholders) who will be affected by these actions.

STEP 2:  For each of the most promising alternatives, determine the benefits and costs to each person or group affected.  These calculations:     

Require predicting probable outcomes based on facts and experience

Should include both short-term and long-term consequences

Should consider the relative value or “marginal utility” of an outcome to different individuals and groups

STEP 3:  Select the action in the current situation that produces the greatest benefits over costs for all affected.  If costs outweigh benefits, select the action with the least costs relative to benefits.  This step shows the alternative that has the greatest net good for this one situation.

STEP 4:  Ask what would happen if the action were a policy for all similar situations.  Since what is done in one situation often becomes an example or even a policy for future actions, this step shows which alternative maximizes good for this and future situations.

STEP 5:  Draw a conclusion

If the same action is selected in Steps 3 & 4, then this is the ethical action.  

If different actions are selected, then decide whether the individual action or the policy will produce the greatest good and the least harm, for all affected, over the long term

Please read pages 295-309: “John Stuart Mill – On Utilitarianism”