This book has two messages. Conventional economic analyses of risks in the workplace, and in society as a whole, are misguided, leading to misunderstanding of current dilemmas and insufficient policy response. Second, the shortcomings of mainstream economics in this sphere illuminate the weaknesses in economic theory itself. Each of these deserves a final word.

Risk, as we have seen in this study, is not all of a piece; how we interpret and evaluate it depends on the circumstances, causes, and alternatives. Indeed, through most of human history the greatest part of risk was viewed as either unavoidable or ennobling. The fatalistic world-view common to traditional societies was an accurate reflection of the real conditions of life: injury or disease could intrude at almost any moment, and stoic acceptance was the only conceivable response. Virtuous risktaking, the stuff of legend and myth, was the role of warriors and other heroes who embraced danger on behalf of the entire community. Even today we venerate those who willingly assume extreme risk – astronauts, the fire-fighters of Chernobyl, human rights activists who stand up to death squads – and when we tell their stories we often resort to the timeless imagery of quest and martyrdom.

The increasing prominence of social movements opposed to risk in such fields as environmental and occupational health and consumer product safety therefore suggests a vast change not so much in the sheer amount of risk faced in the modern world, as in the way this risk is interpreted and valued.