What is the value of the Earth? With the recent events in Asia, the world has been reminded of the sheer, destructive potential of nature. The enormous damage to life and property has perhaps put into perspective the relative value of things, and reminded us that what we hold dear in this material world may so easily cease to exist. In an age where the environment is valued as merely a means of production, where the media incessantly warns and reminds us of the finite nature of our resources, perhaps it is worthwhile to just put the value of the earth into perspective.

Obviously putting a price tag on the earth would be extremely difficult for several reasons. How do you value it? What do you value it against? In economics it is very difficult to give monetary value to something that is too valuable, scarce or unique to trade actively in markets, so a primary assumption could be that the earth is essentially priceless. There are however a few interesting methods that one might use to put the value of our planet into perspective.

The first and possibly most obvious way would be to determine the value of life for every living thing on the planet