tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159906646513306121.post989903321352888339..comments2023-11-19T20:38:50.237-08:00Comments on Economic Logic: BoobonomicsEconomic Logicianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171296292101248614noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159906646513306121.post-65750715214154357392008-01-02T08:21:00.000-08:002008-01-02T08:21:00.000-08:00I agree prostitution is a market where free will m...I agree prostitution is a market where free will may not abound. But assuming that there is no coercion (as the original post assumes), I think the argument that a Pareto Optimum can be attained is valid. I suppose the Economic Logician was writing about prostitution markets that are more open, like in the Netherlands.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159906646513306121.post-7453074556992507082007-12-29T12:06:00.000-08:002007-12-29T12:06:00.000-08:00Prostitution is perhaps the classic case of imperf...Prostitution is perhaps the classic case of imperfect information distorting a market transaction. What degree of coercion exists? A prostitute may be forced into the trade by direct coercion, i.e. the classic pimp/whore model. Or the coercion might be more indirect, if you have an economic system where worker productivity is not rewarded by an appropriate share of the product, then prostituting the daughters could well be seen as a method of societal taxation. It is really a market transaction is wealthy employers suppress wages to the point that their workers' daughters willingly or not submit to sex?<BR/><BR/>I don't see any realistic way to establish Pareto optimums here. You can try to control for some of the externalities but not all, even in the most regulated environment, say Amsterdam, sex with strangers whether for pay or not may be masks for other types of self-abuse. Like to drink or do drugs? not really a morning person? have some psychological issues that could really benefit from treatment? Well then get a job where typically employers will discount for that. Like cocktailing. Or at an extreme cocktending.<BR/><BR/>But these kind of markets don't clear in any a priori predictable way. In each case you would have to reduce the analysis to the particular transaction. I can reasonably predict the outcome of any cash transaction of anyone I know that might enter into said transaction, because I operate in a limited known environment. Which doesn't mean I can walk into a bar in LA and understand the background of the market transaction of the act of prostitution even though the outlines of the deal are clear as day. Some things are just not amenable to a textbook approach.Bruce Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13222670342780912788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159906646513306121.post-88570278912022372242007-12-29T05:37:00.000-08:002007-12-29T05:37:00.000-08:00I am not sure "independent accountant" applies Par...I am not sure "independent accountant" applies Pareto Optimality appropriately in his example. <BR/><BR/>The status quo is no transaction. I want to rent a prostitute in such a way that everyone is better off. Thus I pay the prostitute, and I pay anyone that is offended by this single transaction. If I still think it is worthwhile, the transaction happens and <I>everyone</I> is happier.<BR/><BR/>In the Terry Schiavo case, the debate was about what the status quo was, hence it was not clear who should pay whom. That is what courts are for.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4159906646513306121.post-6874836198791488462007-12-28T20:12:00.000-08:002007-12-28T20:12:00.000-08:00What does "hurt" mean? Anyone can say he was "hur...What does "hurt" mean? Anyone can say he was "hurt" by an act that offends him. I am sure millions of people are "hurt" by others taking drugs. Should someone who uses cocaine have to compensate anyone offended by it? How much? If 10 million Americans are "hurt" by an act of prostitution, need the prostitute and his/her customer compensate the "injured" parties say, $1 each? This is nonsense. I don't see any "tort" here.<BR/>I remember the Terry Schiavo (TS)fiasco in Florida. Jeb Bush said TS's death would demean (is that a synomym for hurt?) us all and intervenied to keep her alive. I said nonsense. Let Jeb and those similarly offended take up a collection and pay Mike Schiavo to have him surrender his right as TS's next of kin. Would they pay? Of course not. I see no externalities the state should be interested in in prostitution. You have nothing here.Independent Accountanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07800220849565219709noreply@blogger.com