3 ms·

If it was released from a lab, no matter whether or not it was accidental, Covid would be the mother of all torts. The entire planet can show harm and will be

by ISL 4y ago

If it was released from a lab, no matter whether or not it was accidental, Covid would be the mother of all torts. The entire planet can show harm and will be very interested in recovering their losses from the entity that mis-handled a lethal virus.

rlpb 4y ago
It'd be much like trying to recover money stolen by a drug addict though. Instant bankruptcy and proportionally nothing recovered, to the point that it's not even really worth it.
- ISL 4y ago
  A drug addict with a $14T GDP. With ~7M deaths and a ~$1-10M value of human life [1], that's $7-70T in losses in lives alone, before lost productivity and economic value. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life#:~:text=In%20Western%20countries%20and%20other,US%247.5%20million%20in%202020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life#:~:text=In%20Wes....
  - rlpb 4y ago
    Only if liability transfers to the state. Even if state-owned, plenty of state-owned enterprises have limited liability.
    - emsign 4y ago
      Even if that state has nukes?
abledon 4y ago
i wonder what % of damage it caused to economy, compared to WW2 reparations.
tzs 4y ago
The poor handling of the pandemic in many countries likely greatly increased the losses in those countries and also made it harder for other countries to get it under control. The tortfeasor would likely only be responsible for the losses that would have likely occurred if the pandemic had been handled competently. A lot of countries would probably really not want to have the kind of public in-depth examination of their pandemic responses that would be necessary to figure damages.
emsign 4y ago
Yup, I think that's the real worry of CCP officials and other world leaders, that not only will China lose face, lose influence, but also the world will demand reperation. That might cause a collapse of the already unstable Chinese system with ripple effects all over the world.

by ISL 4y ago

rlpb 4y ago

It'd be much like trying to recover money stolen by a drug addict though. Instant bankruptcy and proportionally nothing recovered, to the point that it's not even really worth it.

ISL 4y ago
A drug addict with a $14T GDP. With ~7M deaths and a ~$1-10M value of human life [1], that's $7-70T in losses in lives alone, before lost productivity and economic value. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life#:~:text=In%20Western%20countries%20and%20other,US%247.5%20million%20in%202020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_of_life#:~:text=In%20Wes....
- rlpb 4y ago
  Only if liability transfers to the state. Even if state-owned, plenty of state-owned enterprises have limited liability.
  - emsign 4y ago
    Even if that state has nukes?

abledon 4y ago

i wonder what % of damage it caused to economy, compared to WW2 reparations.

tzs 4y ago

The poor handling of the pandemic in many countries likely greatly increased the losses in those countries and also made it harder for other countries to get it under control. The tortfeasor would likely only be responsible for the losses that would have likely occurred if the pandemic had been handled competently. A lot of countries would probably really not want to have the kind of public in-depth examination of their pandemic responses that would be necessary to figure damages.

emsign 4y ago

Yup, I think that's the real worry of CCP officials and other world leaders, that not only will China lose face, lose influence, but also the world will demand reperation. That might cause a collapse of the already unstable Chinese system with ripple effects all over the world.