Fred Foldvary wrote:
>
> > Thus, suppose I get a $10 direct expressive benefit from voting for tons
> > of useless health care spending, and the probability of decisiveness is
> > 1-in-a-million. I don't see how any demand revelation mechanism is
> > going to help.
> > Prof. Bryan Caplan
>
> If someone states a value of $10 not because he wants the health care
> spending but because he enjoys stating that value, then it seems to me that
> the person is willing to pay that amount even if for that odd reason, and so
> his statement of value would be just as significant as one who actually
> values the health care.
No, the point is that might *really* get a $10 benefit from SAYING you
get a $1 M benefit. If your probability of decisiveness is under
1-in-100,000, it would pay to do so. But the social cost of this
behavior could drastically exceed the private benefit.
--
Prof. Bryan Caplan
Department of Economics George Mason University
http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"He wrote a letter, but did not post it because he felt that no one
would have understood what he wanted to say, and besides it was not
necessary that anyone but himself should understand it."
Leo Tolstoy, *The Cossacks*
