Changes

==Court decisions==

==Court decisions==

To summarize Ronald Coase's paper ''The Problem of Social Cost'', which can be read [http://www.sfu.ca/~allen/CoaseJLE1960.pdf on line], a judge should have regard for the total effect of his or her decisions including economic effect. For example, the paper says, making a polluting factory get a better smokestack might be a better decision than making the factory owner pay a fine. How might the problem be solved if money did not exist? Another example implied that making a farmer put a fence around his crops might make more sense than making the owner of the cattle which walked on the crops pay a fine. He mentioned a case of sparks from a steam engine causing a brush fire, and that it may not have been fair to make the railroad pay damages depending on the circumstances and technology. His paper also said there was a case in which a wealthy man stocked rabbits on his land and had to pay damages to to his neighbor because the rabbits got into the neighbor's garden. Mr. Coase believed the decision may or may not have solved the problem morally, depending on the circumstances. His paper analyzes ways in which paying damages or not to the plaintiff might effect the causes of disputes.  His famous paper turns out to have very little to do with the theorem carrying his name. <ref>Coase, R. October 1960 ''[http://www.sfu.ca/~allen/CoaseJLE1960.pdf The Problem of Social Cost.]'' Journal of Law and Economics</ref>

To summarize Ronald Coase's paper ''The Problem of Social Cost'', which can be read [http://www.sfu.ca/~allen/CoaseJLE1960.pdf on line], a judge should have regard for the total effect of his or her decisions including economic effect. For example, the paper says, making a polluting factory get a better smokestack might be a better decision than making the factory owner pay a fine. How might the problem be solved if money did not exist? Another example implied that making a farmer put a fence around his crops might make more sense than making the owner of the cattle which walked on the crops pay a fine. He mentioned a case of sparks from a steam engine causing a brush fire, and that it may not have been fair to make the railroad pay damages depending on the circumstances and technology. His paper also said there was a case in which a wealthy man stocked rabbits on his land and had to pay damages to to his neighbor because the rabbits got into the neighbor's garden. Mr. Coase believed the decision may or may not have solved the problem morally, depending on the circumstances. His paper analyzes ways in which paying damages or not to the plaintiff might effect the causes of disputes.  His famous paper turns out to have very little to do with the theorem carrying his name.<ref>Coase, R. October 1960 ''[http://www.sfu.ca/~allen/CoaseJLE1960.pdf The Problem of Social Cost.]'' Journal of Law and Economics</ref>

== References ==

== References ==