#199 Planet Money: Tallying Up The Pelican Bill

What's the price of a pelican? The total for a turtle? The dollars for a dolphin? Its not a philosophical question anymore. The BP oil spill killed hundreds of these animals, and the Feds want to make darn sure that BP pays the total bill. But coming up with a precise economic value for wildlife has stymied economists and scientists for decades. There's no market for most of these animals. No catalog for endangered species. No eBay or Craigslist for migratory birds.

That's not going to stop us from trying, though. Today on the podcast, we come up with 5 different ways to put a pricetag on a pelican.