Peter Capelli wrote: > On a side note, if the census dept. feels that my information is > worth $100 to them, why don't they pay me $100 for it? I thought if > the feds took 'property' (e.g. information) from me they had to > compensate me for that. Since they've set the price at $100, it only > seems fair to use that number ... I don't think this is correct. first, $100 is not the perceived value, but the imposed fine. there is no correlation between the two - for example, if you get caught speeding, you would not say that your additional speed was worth $xx to the police, right? it MAY have been worth something to you (saved time, more fun, whatever) but the fine does not and does not try to take that into account. second, the compensation for property taken away by the government can surely be argued to be a compensation for your loss. the only thing you lose in the census is privacy, dignity or other immaterial goods. governments don't usually compensate that. I'd be interested in whether the $100 fine is there to make the lazy people not forget to fill out, or bring the reluctant ones back into line. in the first case, I can understand it. in the second - well, I'd propose that whoever fills out the form with bogus information (=proves that it's not lazyness) but marks it clearly so (add a checkbox for that) should be fined considerably less, maybe $10 additional "handling costs".
