“How much are you worth if you die?” U-M economics prof Sherrie Kossoudji asks a class of undergrads at Lorch Hall. “Why do ova cost more than sperm? Is it acceptable to sell your kidney?”
Clearly, this is not the kind of econ class that looks at, say, the global auto industry–though Kossoudji does sometimes mention motorcycles. She calls them “donor-mobiles”–as in organ donors.
There’s an undeniably ghoulish quality to “Economics and the Markets for Human Beings” (another topic is how the government calculated how to compensate the families of people killed on 9/11). Koussoudji admits the “class is a little controversial,” but says it “very viscerally brings the concept of market to a student’s mind.”
Senior Lauren Andrzejewski says the class left her seriously considering signing up to be an organ donor after her death–“Thousands of people die each year waiting for a donor.” she emails. Also, says Andrzejewski, “It makes for good bar conversation.”
