----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- 
(Originally sent on 2/23/2004.) 
The title of this thread is very interesting. Can we separate worth from value? What is
the value of anything? Is it the valuation set in the market as economics presumes? How do
we then square the under-valuation of many
activities considered worthy in themselves such as education and child care today [as
reflected in the pay of these professionals relative to other activities such as say,
being an advertising executive or a professional athlete] with some fundamental sense of
what is a good society? Or should valuation be dictated by some ideals of what is a decent
human society? Do we consider our environment worthy of our reverence? And if we do so,
why do we accept its degradation without much unease?
 
Economists may have a lot to account for in explaining the contradiction in the idea of
worth/value and their acceptance of the discipline's practice.
 
Sumitra Shah 
 
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