On The Application Of The Economic Loss Rule In American Tort Law

The economic loss doctrine may be a new terminology for Chineselegislators, justices and lawyers, but in the United States, people are veryfamiliar with it. There is no definite consensus on what the economic lossdoctrine is in the U.S. However, most people agree that the economic lossdoctrine is a rule that excludes the plaintiff from getting the compensationof pure economic loss under the tort law.There is no economic loss doctrine in Chinese law. But the problemwhether the pure economic loss should be compensated under the tort lawexists in our country too, which has already posed a great challenge to us.This thesis carefully examines the application of the economic lossdoctrine in the United States, hoping it could do some help to theconstruction of compensation system of pure economic loss. The thesis isdivided into four parts. Part I makes a brief introduction about theeconomic loss doctrine, pure economic loss and the relationship betweenthem. Part II introduces the main functions of the economic loss doctrine.Part III introduces the application of the economic loss doctrine in thefield of product liability, personal injury, damages to other property, andservice. The last part makes some suggestions about how to improve ourcountry's compensation system of pure economic loss.