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From: tdh@frog.UUCP (T. Dave Hudson)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: market value in law
Message-ID: <312@frog.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3-Jan-86 23:15:47 EST
Article-I.D.: frog.312
Posted: Fri Jan  3 23:15:47 1986
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> Yes, but it seems to me that the current practice of the courts in this
> respect is very un-libertarian.  That is, I would think that a libertarian
> regards an individual as the best authority on the value of his own life.

Bad joke, witting distortion, or both?

The value to himself, perhaps.  Value is relative to the
valuer, and values have no objective measure.  But in legal
matters, it is sometimes necessary to assign a value to
something.  (Unfortunately, this is abused, as in taxation
and eminent domain.)  The value assigned must then depend on
market values.  Where there is no direct measure of market
value, as with a person's life, indirect measures must be
used.

The reason you can speak of a measure of market value
objectively is that it is historical, and that it is
measured in a fairly stable and fungible good.  The measure
is not exact, both due to the nature of the values traded
and due to projection into a hypothetical situation.  But
the measure is as reliable as you can find, where
objectivity is necessary.

The worst problems with the current litigiousness stem from
a lack of objectivity with regard to law and with regard to
damages.  Objectivity in law is necessary for predictability
in planning and for the eradication of political pull from
the carriage of justice.

(Of course, penalties as disincentives are not the same as
damages for restitution.)

				David Hudson