A number of reflections are set out on the formulation of issues relating to the challenges and costs of security policies. This formulation process, as shown by a brief historical overview, varies significantly according to the persons or bodies expressing themselves (private individuals, insurers, businessmen, public authorities, etc.).

Likewise, the recognition today that security must be treated as a public good, an issue on which diverging interests clash, calls for a differentiated analysis of modes of formulating preferences and the way such modes are articulated.

The report shows how economic analysis proposes new approaches and new issues with which to discuss the aggregation of the perception of infrequent events with severe consequences.