Eleven Dollar Memo

"e;The Eleven Dollar Memo - When a corporation calculated the cost of a human life"e; investigates the most infamous case of corporate negligence in history. In the 1970s, Ford discovered a flaw in the Pinto model: the gas tank could rupture in rear-end collisions, causing deadly fires. Engineers proposed a fix that cost $11 per car. Business ethics writer Robert Steel exposes the internal "e;Pinto Memo."e; Executives calculated that paying out settlements for anticipated burn deaths ($200,000 per life) would be cheaper than recalling and fixing 11 million cars ($11 each). They decided to let people burn to save money. "e;The Eleven Dollar Memo"e; is a chilling look at utilitarianism gone wrong. It explores the legal and moral aftermath when a company reduces human tragedy to a line item on a spreadsheet, changing product liability laws forever.