Social discounting and the cost of public funds: problems with current global practice

Since the early days of social discounting, in the 1960s, three mutually inconsistent approaches have become globally embedded. All face significant analytical and/or practical problems. This essay reviews the issues, why the divisions persist, and the contexts in which the inconsistencies may contribute significantly to misleading analysis. It concludes that there may never be any broad global consensus on best practice, but identifies aspects where limited progress may sometimes be feasible.