Suppose the owner of a boat, on seeing an impending storm blowing up, moored his boat to a dock without first obtaining the owner's permission.
During the course of the storm, the boat did $500 worth of damages to the dock, but the boat (which was worth more than $500) was saved. The dock owner sued for damages and won.
(a) What assignment of the right to use of the dock, and what rule for protecting that right (property rule or liability rule), are implied by the court's ruling?
(b) Provide an economic justification for this decision.