Economic method
How economic consequence is established — and, just as importantly, what it is not. The Engine separates a demonstrable avoidable cost from a realized, verified saving, and never lets one stand in for the other.
Verified realized savings across the entire library is $0.
No case in the accepted library establishes a realized, verified saving. That figure is not a placeholder awaiting better data — it is the honest current state. Where a figure is quoted below, it is a demonstrable avoidable cost or exposure, established from the record, and it is labelled as such. It is never presented as money saved.
The economic ladder
Benchmark context
Public national benchmarks orient a figure. They are context for a conversation — not evidence about any specific organization.
Demonstrable avoidable cost
A cost the record shows could have been avoided had the obligation been met. It is established from the case, and it is an exposure — not money that was saved.
Realized saving
Money an organization actually did not spend, verified against its own records. The library establishes none of these today. The count is $0.
Verified saving
A realized saving independently confirmed against source artifacts. Also $0 across the library.
The one economically demonstrated case
Exactly one case in the library rises to an economically demonstrated Engine Answer: CASE-25-E — Work Restrictions Issued Without Demonstrable Employer Acceptance and Operational Execution.
This $17,500 is a demonstrable avoidable cost, not realized or verified savings, and not a legal damages figure. It does not on its own establish source-linked evidence artifacts. Verified realized savings across the library remains $0.
What remains uncertain
Establishes an economically demonstrated avoidable cost ($17,500); it is not realized or verified savings. This case does not on its own establish source-linked evidence artifacts; a verified realized-savings outcome.
Illustrative fixtures are not part of the library
Earlier demonstrations used clearly authored, illustrative figures (for example, $4,200 and $2,800) to show the shape of an economic argument. Those figures are synthetic and illustrative only. They are not part of the canonical case library, they are not attributed to any organization, and they are never included in any employer total or portfolio figure. They quantify nothing about a real outcome.