tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20142791.post447984441578386231..comments2024-03-11T07:41:19.149-04:00Comments on The Perfect Substitute: Bargaining or "Expecting Too Much"?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20142791.post-61719413695661413662010-10-25T22:41:55.466-04:002010-10-25T22:41:55.466-04:00On a closer reading of the previous comments, I th...On a closer reading of the previous comments, I think my first point was more or less covered by Will.Eric Seymourhttp://www.intheagora.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20142791.post-23968399294677379122010-10-25T22:40:55.932-04:002010-10-25T22:40:55.932-04:00You may be right, but I think it's more likely...You may be right, but I think it's more likely that either 1) People think the government should do more of A *and* stop wasting its money on B (or at least do it a lot more efficiently), hence no net increase in spending will result; or 2) People think "the rich" ought to pay for the services they desire from the government.Eric Seymourhttp://www.intheagora.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20142791.post-55892656328747657232010-10-24T11:07:32.457-04:002010-10-24T11:07:32.457-04:00I agree that are points are basically the same, yo...I agree that are points are basically the same, yours a bit more refined than my expression.<br /><br />I do want to point out that even though we don't bargain over most things, we do bargain over <i>big</i> things: houses, cars, etc.<br /><br />If you think of citizens as choosing politicians as a bundle of services and taxes, then it would seem like a similarly big purchase.Justin Rosshttp://perfectsubstitute.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20142791.post-79452302981561485362010-10-22T12:28:56.004-04:002010-10-22T12:28:56.004-04:00The empirical reality that individuals in advanced...The empirical reality that individuals in advanced economies do not bargain over most things they purchase is consistent with the view that most people believe that the best possible good is being provided at the lowest possible cost (and, hence, they can do no better; the only question is whether you are willing to pay more for the higher quality version of the same good).<br /><br />IF this is an accurate assessment, it would suggest that these same individuals are not convinced that the best possible service is being provided at the lowest possible cost from the public sector. Citizens demand more service at the same price because they believe the government is currently operating somewhere between the origin and the PPF.<br /><br />Fundamentally, I think our points are the same. In the market case, there are entrepreneurs "behind the scenes" demanding more for less, i.e. ensuring that producers are on their respective PPFs. <br /><br />Observing what is purportedly "irrational" political behavior could merely be evidence that (1) the political process is set up so that all of us must play the role of entrepreneur or (2) political process is so damn inefficient (i.e. it takes longer to push public suppliers to the frontier) that many more people have time to spot the profit opportunity.Will Lutherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18245369390177307556noreply@blogger.com