Value of life

From eg

Any system recognizing financial capital as a universal substitute for other forms of capital asset (that is, useful to buy or rent any such asset) assumes a financial value of life. The many consequences of this valuation of living things include natural capital and individual capital needing to justify their continued existence in financial terms. Individuals or ecosystems unwilling or incapable of doing so, or incapable of receiving support from others allocating financial capital to this purpose, usually cease to exist, as survival remains tenuous without access to capital.

An uncontroversial observation about the price of human life, which sidesteps questions of value versus price and human versus nonhuman life, is that less consuming nations are typically capable of assigning a value of life an average of 15 times less than consuming nations. These numbers were reflected in for instance the Kyoto Protocol, but this 15 to 1 value of life ratio has been consistent since it was observed by George Kennan in 1948, when the US was the only consuming nation with intact infrastructure.