The Economic Argument for a Policy of Suicide Prevention

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, using some conventional concepts and procedures fromthe discipline of economics, the economic rationale for governments to have suicide prevention policies. This isa conceptual paper, which proceeds in a theoretical fashion. The part of the economics literature that is relevantto this task is welfare (or normative) economics, not positive or empirical economics. Welfare economics is thatpart of economics which is concerned with evaluating whether some change in the human environment(economic, social, political etc) has increased social welfare. The motivation of this paper is to show that asuicide prevention policy involves a legitimate role of government, given the conventional framework of welfareeconomics. It may seem puzzling to suicidologists that it is necessary to argue an economic case for suicideprevention, given that suicide prevention seems established in contemporary civil society. That it is ‘wellestablished’is a view that does not always apply ‘outside the circle’ of suicidology. The case for policy isdubious amongst some with a contemporary concern for environmental degradation. This argument is that alaissez-faire approach to suicide is appropriate in order to protect the planet. This paper shows that there is noeconomic case for a ‘no policy’ stance with respect to suicide prevention.