Economic Value of Life

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a detailed examination of the economic value of human life. The writer takes the reader on an exploratory journey through several methods used to calculate that value as well as other theories about calculating that value.

From the Paper:

"Worldwide it has been said that people are becoming more materialistic than ever before. It seems that everything now has a tangible value that can be computed in dollars and cents. Insurance companies want a dollar value placed on the most sentimental items one owns, while things once belonging to celebrities command a high fee at auctions and promotions. In addition to individual items being assessed individual values, abstract ideas are also assigned values through dollars. Consultants, writers, and others are paid for their ideas and their intellectual property in the same way that someone purchases a new couch for the living room. Throughout history people have placed value on tangible and intangible items but the one thing remaining just out of accountable reach is the economic value marker of human life. For many years experts and lay people have debated the worth of human life with little success. While the efforts will continue in the future, it will be difficult to answer the question. Human life has so many subjective variables that placing a dollar worth on human life always remains just out of reach. Before one can place a tangible value on human life one must be able to identify the variables to be measured for comparison and value placement. The inability to agree with what elements should be included places a burden on the effort to choose an economic value on human life."

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