A normative perspective on discounting health outcomes

The debate on the appropriate discounting of future outcomes has a long history, with normative deliberation identifying several different considerations. It is suggested here that only two considerations are appropriate in the discounting of health outcomes. First, discounting ought to account for the possibility of future catastrophic events. Second, it is arguably legitimate for democratically elected governments to weight disproportionately their current constituency over future constituencies. It is adjudged that accounting for both of these factors should lead to a maximum annual discount rate of 0.5%, substantially lower than the rates currently recommended by public authorities.