10
Opinion of the Court
Survey and Suggestion, 77 Nw. U. L. Rev. 192, 196, and n. 26 (1982) (discussing history and collecting sources). This rule seems to have rested upon a belief that there was something inherently unfair about requiring debtors to pay interest when they were unable to halt its accrual by handing over to their creditors a fixed and unassailable amount. See, e. g., id., at 196.
This common-law distinction has long since lost its hold on the legal imagination. Beginning in the early part of the last century, numerous courts and commentators have rejected the distinction for failing to acknowledge the compensatory nature of interest awards.3 This Court allied itself with the evolving consensus in 1933, when we expressed the opinion that the distinction between cases of liquidated and unliquidated damages "is not a sound one." Funkhouser v. J. B. Preston Co., 290 U. S. 163, 168 (1933). The analysis supporting that conclusion gave no doubt as to our reasoning: "Whether the case is of the one class or the other, the injured party has suffered a loss which may be regarded as not fully compensated if he is confined to the amount found to be recoverable as of the time of breach and nothing is added for the delay in obtaining the award of damages." Ibid. Our cases since 1933 have consistently acknowledged that a monetary award does not fully compensate for an injury unless it includes an interest component. See, e. g., Milwaukee v. Cement Div., National Gypsum Co., 515 U. S. 189, 195 (1995) ("The essential rationale for awarding pre-3 For sources from the early part of the century criticizing, qualifying, or rejecting the distinction, see, e. g., Faber v. New York, 222 N. Y. 255, 262, 118 N. E. 609, 610-611 (1918); Bernhard v. Rochester German Ins. Co., 79 Conn. 388, 398, 65 A. 134, 138 (1906); Restatement of Contracts § 337, p. 542 (1932); C. McCormick, Law of Damages § 51, p. 210 (1935); 1 T. Sedgwick, Measure of Damages § 315 (9th ed. 1912); cf. 3 S. Williston, Law of Contracts § 1413, p. 2508 (1920) ("The disinclination to allow interest on claim of uncertain amount seems based on practice rather than theoretical grounds"). For a thorough modern treatment of the issue, see 1 D. Dobbs, Law of Remedies § 3.6(3) (2d ed. 1993).
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