The Price of Life

The Price of Life by Jenny Kleeman explores the complex question of how we assign value to human life in a world increasingly driven by data. Despite the saying that life is priceless, the costs of saving, creating, or compensating for a life are often clearly calculated.

For philanthropists, judges, criminals, healthcare providers, and government ministers, quantifying life is just part of the job. In this captivating work, journalist, broadcaster, and documentary-maker Jenny Kleeman takes readers on an eye-opening journey to meet individuals who determine the worth of lives.

Through a series of extraordinary encounters—with people who have faked their own death, those who have lost loved ones to terrorism, hitmen, and modern-day slaves—Kleeman discovers more questions than answers. She investigates the impact of life-or-death decisions on our humanity:

• Who receives life-saving drugs when costs are high, and who misses out?
• How does philanthropic giving in Silicon Valley affect the lives of some while others continue to suffer?
• Are certain lives more valuable than others?
• What happens when we remove human emotions from critical decisions? Does it result in fairness or moral bankruptcy?

By examining this final frontier in monetization, The Price of Life questions what we lose and gain when we allow cold, hard logic to dictate judgments that deeply matter.