Taking Care of Non-Economic “Goods”
March 19, 2019
From: A
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 11:14 AM
To: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Subject: Re:
Dear Dr. Block,
I found this point in the book summary interesting: “…This gives rise to the tragedy of the commons: when something is unowned, people have less of an incentive to care for it, preserve it, and protect it…
Would this mean that if a good is noneconomic, it isn’t possible for there to be incentive to take care of it? If this is the rule, are there any exceptions?
Dear A:
If something is non-economic, non-scarce, it isn’t a good.
Butterflies, dirt, air, are not economic goods. And, yet, nothing precludes someone from taking care of these items
Dr. Block [send him mail] is a professor of economics at Loyola University New Orleans. He is the author of Defending the Undefendable, The Case for Discrimination, Labor Economics From A Free Market Perspective, Building Blocks for Liberty, Differing Worldviews in Higher Education, and The Privatization of Roads and Highways. His latest book is Yes to Ron Paul and Liberty.
Alan Kreuger, R.I.P.