Economic Value of Life

In Torts we were discussing difficulties courts have in assessing the value of life. I was left disagreeing with the court, and thinking that you can assess the monetary value of life (specifically loss of enjoyment of life) kind of because it's no different than pinning the value on loss of consortium. If we have started to pin these values on emotions and such, why draw a line in the sand before the value of life.

but then again, if I spend all day at my computer, and reading law books, does that show that I don't value the outdoors, or friendships?

The case on point decided the admissibility of expert testimony on the value of life. Determined by survey of $ spent on health and safety. In my opinion, this is clearly far from exact, but probably helpful to a jury. The court found the testimony inadmissible because the expert didn't know any better than the average person- his testimony sought to determine what the average person thought. I guess because the jury is presumed to BE the average person it was inadmissible. Plus, some other, less interesting details about the effects of marketing.