The Economic Worth of a Person

Discussion in 'Business & Economics' started by PsychoticEpisode, Jun 18, 2008.

  1. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    Just reading a stat concerning China's current problem with Mother Nature. It says here that in the area where the flooding is the worse that 1.27 million people have been displaced, 2.12 million acres of crops are in imminent danger of being lost, all at a cost of $1.5 billion

    The $1.5 billion works out to around $1180 per person, about $710 per acre with each person representing 1.67 acres. Now I don't think the $1.5 billion has anything to do with the actual people, only the cash value of the crop but I stand to be corrected.

    That being said, it would mean the actual economic worth of one of these displaced Chinese citizens is absolutely zero. They can't sell the crop once its destroyed nor can they buy anything on the open market because they have lost their source of income. In fact they have already invested some labor and raw material so they are likely to represent an economic value less than zero.

    I was just wondering if the economic value of a person can rise above zero. Would a wealthy person like Bill Gates for instance, have a positive economic value compared to a rice paddy worker? It would seem so but I really wonder if it is true.
     
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  3. draqon Banned Banned

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    of course it is true, Bill Gates has a greater economical value then a chinese worker.
     
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  5. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    Bill Gates has net worth but I'm not sure about economic value. Let me say this another way...if Bill Gates was one of the 1.27 million displaced people in the Chinese floods then would the total economic value of the loss be more than the current $1.5 billion estimate?
     
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  7. draqon Banned Banned

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    lol...

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    that made me crack...picturing Bill Gates working in the fields.

    The answer is yes, because Bill Gates is not just about money, he got brains and ideas, so he would get himself out of poor circumstances of his

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    Chinese life.
     
  8. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    Then would the rice paddy workers have any economic value, a couple of cents each maybe? If only for the monetary value placed on their body's components? A little pile of matter is worth something I think.

    Does Bill Gates have economic value only while he's alive? Seems he is worth more dead than 1.27 million Chinese rice workers. But net worth shouldn't be confused with economic value, surely some of those Chinamen have ideas also. An acre of land has economic value, but I don't think placing a farmer on it will increase it.
     
  9. draqon Banned Banned

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    You see unlike Bill Gates, china men are good in economical value when it comes to them in great numbers...if lets say we replaced china men with Bill Gates, most likely

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    they would not accomplish all the same one Bill Gates accomplished. Economic value gains its strength in greater numbers, because couple of peoples' loss is nothing and attributes to overall strength of economy because of its great durability.

    Earthquake happened? million people died? no matter...we got a billion taking their places.
     
  10. OilIsMastery Banned Banned

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    I think peoples economic worth should be measured in terms of barrels of oil.

    For example a barrel of oil (42 gallons of gas) is the same energy as the human labor of about 12 people working for you for an entire year. Therefore 12 people are worth 1 barrel of oil.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2008
  11. TruthSeeker Fancy Virtual Reality Monkey Valued Senior Member

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    You have his weird love affair with oil, eh? Do you rub it all over your body everyday!?!? :bugeye:

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  12. TruthSeeker Fancy Virtual Reality Monkey Valued Senior Member

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    It really depends on your perspective. Spiritually, the value of a person would beinfinite. Emotionally, it could range from negative to infinite.

    When it comes to economic value, it depends on what you are talking about. For instance, when I was working on McDonald's, I was earning $8/hour. So one could say my economic value was $8/hour. Bu then I sarted my business, and on the best times my economic value is over $100/hour. Considering the fact that it took me only a short time to jump from $8/hour to $100/hour, my economic value is really niher one of these. Those are just manifestations of my "true" economic value, or my potential economic value. But even he potential economic value would not be static, but would depend on current conditions. It seems that the main condition is knowledge. Think of knowledge management, and how companies have been obcessed with it since around the millenium. How do you measure the economic value of knowledge? Difficult to say. Perhaps the capacity to generate capital? But then, how do you measure that? :shrug:


    Ok, now I'm starting to ramble on.... LOL!!!!

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  13. OilIsMastery Banned Banned

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    I touch it; I'm the touch master.
     
  14. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    When I read the Chinese press release it occured to me that in China at least, there appears to be no economic value placed on the person. It was the land that was deemed economically impoprtant. Perhaps Draqon is right in suggesting that in China, a resource such as farm workers is seemingly endless, thus little economic value is placed on the person.

    If a country like the USA for instance suffers a large disaster, such as New Orleans-Katrina, do they include an economic loss value for the worker in with their final estimates.
     
  15. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    The economic worth of a person is nothing compaired to their honor.
     
  16. OilIsMastery Banned Banned

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    I never understood the whole Hellenic honor thing. I just want money and freedom. I couldn't possibly care less about honor. If wealth brings a certain type of honor so be it, if not, no loss here.
     
  17. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    Are we worth more economically if we are dead? The undertaker might think so.

    Does massive loss of human life on a global scale improve the economic worth of the survivors?
     
  18. Randwolf Ignorance killed the cat Valued Senior Member

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    According to http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/worth.asp

    "When we total the monetary value of the elements in our bodies and the value of the average person's skin, we arrive at a net worth of $4.50!

    ...

    Our most valuable asset is our skin, which the Japanese invested their time and money in measuring. The method the Imperial State Institute for Nutrition at Tokyo developed for measuring the amount of a person's skin is to take a naked person, and to apply a strong, thin paper to every surface of his body. After the paper dries, they carefully remove it, cut it into small pieces, and painstakingly total the person's measurements. Cut and dried, the average person is the proud owner of fourteen to eighteen square feet of skin, with the variables in this figure being height, weight, and breast size. Basing the skin's value on the selling price of cowhide, which is approximately $.25 per square foot, the value of an average person's skin is about $3.50."


    Doesn't appear to come to much calculated this way...
     
  19. PsychoticEpisode It is very dry in here today Valued Senior Member

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    Then again, if this story is accurate, in China a person's remains become the property of the state and executed prisoner's skin has economic value in the cosmetic industry. The worth of a person in this case increases at death. So I guess while alive, a person's basic raw material has potential economic value.

    Brings to mind that people who break the law probably have a negative economic value that would far exceed any positive value 1 or several people might possess. Death to that costly member of society is even more economically positive, no?
     
  20. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    If you don't know what honor is then you've never had any yourself. It is something that is held above all other ideals and beliefs for without ones own personal honor they cease to be in touch with themselves and sell themselves to the highest bidders for their flesh and blood. They are truely circumspect in themselves and cannot ever be in balance with others.
     
  21. OilIsMastery Banned Banned

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    Granted I don't know what honor is. However just because I don't know what it is doesn't necessarily mean I've never had any. Socrates probably didn't know what honor is, yet he was a great Athenian warrior, having fought in the battles of Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium (Symposium 219e-221b).

    I have principles but honor isn't one of them. I'm not a whore either, however for some people whoring themselves is honorable.

    If you say so.
     
  22. Sciencelovah Registered Senior Member

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    I think the $1.5 billion refers to the lost. The 1.27 million people is said
    have been displaced, means they are not "gone", and hence, is not
    referred as the lost cost.

    I think when there is a catastrophe, the loss can be classified as human loss,
    property loss, and other loss (such as cultural value, historical value, etc), but
    human loss isn't valuated in monetary terms, simply because it is invaluable.

    p.s.: not a fact, just opinion.
     
  23. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Integrity, firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility, is just another word that could mean honor. Perhaps you've lost that along the way somewhere too. I know that I almost lost mine a few times but had the sense to recognize what was going on and refused to give up my own personal integrity for money. I value what I do for others more than any money can ever sway me into giving up. My self worth is always at stake whenever I go to work for anyone and I don't work for those who take advantage of others only for money. I have kept my honor and integrity my entire life and am glad I have. I might not have gotten rich but I have at least self worth which , to me , is more valuable than money can buy.





    Choices are always going to be presented to us along the pathway of life and I just refuse to give in to taking advantage over others just because I know something they don't. I will always help others and be certain that I do my up most in giving them the best I can for what they pay me to do. Not ripping people off just because I know how to do things is one of my own personal "honors" I have made with myself through my life and because of that I don't work for certain people who want me to do so. We each choose what we honor in life. I guess you honor money over others well being it would seem . How truly sad, from my point of view. But from yours I guess your very happy with what you've lost for all the wealth and power you've attained.
     

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