OFF: consumer economics (was: Hawkwind MP3's)

[M Holmes]

Paul Mather writes:

> On Wed, Apr 09, 2003 at 03:25:44PM +0100, M Holmes wrote:
> >> Paul Mather writes:

> >> > If I had free dental care, I doubt that would make me take less
> >> > care of my teeth just so I could partake of the dubious pleasure
> >> > of multiple free root canal procedures...

> >> Perhaps not, but you not be the person on the margin.

> So, is a "person on the margin" in this case someone who cannot (or
> will not) foresee the long-term result of his or her action (or
> inaction)?

To the contrary, they're someone who can. If someone goes from expensive
to free dental care then the amount of time they should spend cleaning
their teeth to maximise economic efficiency will go down.

Unless someone finds cleaning their teeth pleasurable then the only
reason to do it is to save themselves time spent ill, and money spent
repairing them. The value of the repairs and time and some calculation
of probabilities dictates how much time it's worth spending cleaning
your teeth each day (though I doubt many of us get it precisely right).
If the penalty goes down then the time it's sensible to spend on it also
goes down.

> If so, it would seem that across the board here in the US
> that the margin is becoming a majority, or at least not taking
> responsibility for your own actions (perhaps blaming someone else when
> the consequences come home to roost) has become something of a boom
> industry...  ;-)

Sadly that's true here too. I wonder how much of it is down to people
who would otherwise be adults expecting the government to act as parents
and make their decisions (such as how much to spend on healthcare?) for them.

FoFP