ABSTRACT
Projection over time is a special problem of inductive inference. In such projections, all undetermined cases of a hypothesis or of a system of hypotheses—a theory—are future cases. A projection is then called a prediction. Predictions will differ with respect to the degree of articulation in the formulation of hypotheses and with respect to the degree of quantitative precision. In modern Western society, land and water allocation among uses and users is accomplished largely through decentralized decision-making of many individual agents, both private and public. These agents are the subsectors in organizing and operating Western economies. In identifying the objectives of policy decisions in land and water allocation, one encounters what might be called the problem of unity of social objectives and criteria. In water allocation, direction and speed are influenced more by water law than by the price system. Water law, and its changes over time, can be appraised by economic criteria.
