Comments on: In Defense of The Ethicist http://www.lawsocietyblog.com/archives/189 Notes from the intersection of law, society, technology, economics, and culture Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:19:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: geoff manne http://www.lawsocietyblog.com/archives/189#comment-719 geoff manne Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:25:27 +0000 http://www.lawsocietyblog.com/archives/189#comment-719 I guess . . . except that the school already made it a market transaction (albeit a constrained one). Do you think that by under-pricing the pizza but nevertheless forcing participants to stand in line and pay by the slice at the time of consumption the school somehow created a non-market environment? I don't suggest that proper economic reasoning is required simply because money changed hands here; economic reasoning is appropriate because it actually provides coherent analysis. The kid's actions didn't prevent anyone from participating in the event -- in fact, by reducing the cost of waiting in line it actually made it cheaper for everyone to participate. No matter how much the school (and Randy Cohen) might wish that waiting in line were not exactly as real a cost as the cash required to buy the pizza, it is. The "rules" of this game cannot, unfortunately, suspend reality. I would be more sympathetic with Randy (although I have no sympathy for the idiot counselor who tells the entrepreneurial kid he is "taking advantage of people") had he realized there was scarcity and it was going to be rationed somehow and had he then explained why queuing is a more "communitarian" system of rationing than price. But I don't really know why that should be, and he doesn't tell us. I guess . . . except that the school already made it a market transaction (albeit a constrained one). Do you think that by under-pricing the pizza but nevertheless forcing participants to stand in line and pay by the slice at the time of consumption the school somehow created a non-market environment?

I don’t suggest that proper economic reasoning is required simply because money changed hands here; economic reasoning is appropriate because it actually provides coherent analysis.

The kid’s actions didn’t prevent anyone from participating in the event — in fact, by reducing the cost of waiting in line it actually made it cheaper for everyone to participate. No matter how much the school (and Randy Cohen) might wish that waiting in line were not exactly as real a cost as the cash required to buy the pizza, it is. The “rules” of this game cannot, unfortunately, suspend reality.

I would be more sympathetic with Randy (although I have no sympathy for the idiot counselor who tells the entrepreneurial kid he is “taking advantage of people”) had he realized there was scarcity and it was going to be rationed somehow and had he then explained why queuing is a more “communitarian” system of rationing than price. But I don’t really know why that should be, and he doesn’t tell us.

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