Thumbs-up for Florida tort reform

OPINION:

Profligate government spending leads to inflation. That’s because it needs worthless new currency to be issued, which dilutes money’s value. This much we know. But wait, there’s more. 

The federal government is not the only one printing Monopoly money. Civil courts have been doing it for nearly a century in tort cases, with no one the wiser.

A typical court award might be $250,000 for “pain and suffering.” That’s on top of quantifiable damage (e.g., $50,000 in medical bills, lost wages, etc.).

Where does the money come from? The defendant’s insurance pays it and absorbs the loss by increasing premiums. In this way, the money comes from its only possible source: the general economy. It increases everyone’s cost of living, which is no different from inflation caused by printing new money.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has to make up the shortfall in the money supply by printing new money.

For the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to do it is bad enough. For unaccountable local courts to do it is worse.

The good news is that Florida (“DeSantis and GOP supermajority just fixed Florida’s one major legal flaw,” web, March 28) has done something about it.

One state repaired. Only 49 to go.

JOHN S. MASON JR. 

Irvington, Virginia