What is the monetary value of a person’s life? Vanderbilt economist W. Kip Viscusi says putting a price tag on the value of a person’s life makes people and products safer. Viscusi defines the “value of statistical life” or VSL as the dollar amount that people are willing to pay to avoid an expected death tied to a faulty product or job-related accident. His current estimate of the value of statistical life is $10 million.