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42 sats \ 28 replies \ @DawnoftheDead 23 Jul 2024 \ on: Punishment is a Public Good econ
Anything that is described as a public good is not a public good
I agree, fellow public goods truther, but it's a useful concept.
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ChatGPT argued roads were a public good and then i asked about road congestion and it basically started contradicted itself without blinking. Have a nice day.
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When I teach about public goods, I emphasize that the characteristic of being non-rival and non-excludable isn't a hard and fast rule but can depend on circumstances. Hence, the degree of non-rivalry of a road depends on the level of congestion.
It's like the concept of a slope. One can say that mountains are sloped, but it doesn't mean that they're sloped equally everywhere. Rather, the degree of slope can vary from position to position. That doesn't make the concept of slope useless, just as it doesn't make the concept of rivalry and excludability useless.
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Well put. In many cases, things are only effectively public goods, rather than perfect public goods.
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You reach people that roads are public goods?
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The slope of a roof can endanger law enforcement
You teach economics? more people need to learn economics even if it's a weekly column by John Cochrane
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Yep, I teach economics and I totally agree that more people need to have some basic economic literacy.
Interestingly, I find that young people are much less interested in it than middle age people. I guess it's something that doesn't seem interesting until you personally experience how much it affects you.
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The concept of "Public Goods" is not economic literacy tho. Its a bad concept
During the 1980s and 90s there was a movement combining the disciplines of Law and Economics. Famous people affiliated with Law and Economics were Nobel Prize winner Ronald Coase, David Friedman, Richard Epstein, Richard Posner and Douglas Ginsburg. Many of them were affiliated with U. of Chicago.
and law enforcement can be a public good
QED
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