Monday, April 15, 2024

More or Less is Objective. Goldilocksism is Subjective.

I've talked about this before, but I'm seeing the same mistake again. This time it's Art Carden at EconLog:

Since public goods are non-rivalrous and non-excludable, we won’t get enough of them if we rely exclusively on the free market.

Wrong.

A free market will produce less, rather than more, of a good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable.

Whether the amount produced is "too much," "too little," or "just right" is entirely a matter of subjective valuation.

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