On Thursday, June 14, 2007 at 16:55:08 (-0400) michael a. lebowitz writes: >I haven't attached the article mentioned for the list, but Robin can >send it to any individual who requests it.
Thank you for sending this. I find Hahnel's writings some of the most stimulating economic writing I have ever come across. I'm curious about his posited personality-warping effect of purchases. Every good has externalities, and as we know, some externalities are in the eye of the beholder. However, I would expect that a huge number (vast majority?) of externalities are simply hidden from view, too small at the individual level to even register. So, is it possible to go through a typical basket of goods purchased by a typical person over the week and list the externalities for each, and determine the warping that results from each, and the resultant aggregate warping? This is the sort of thing that I would love to discuss with my co-workers, friends, and family, but not having a good concrete example means it's tough. Bill
