Missing Inaction: Internalizing Beneficial Omissions

Are beneficial omissions treated the same as beneficial commissions of the same magnitude? Does it actually matter? In this Article I argue that while scholarship has paid attention to the omission bias in the context of harms (i.e., the discounting of harms caused by omissions relative to harms caused by commissions), it has not considered the omission bias in the context of benefits (i.e., the discounting of benefits caused by omissions relative to benefits caused by commissions). This Article argues not only that we should recognize beneficial omissions, but also that policymakers should pay more attention to beneficial omissions than to either beneficial or harmful commissions.