Comments on: Illogic on Cashback http://clubtroppo.com.au/2008/06/26/illogic-on-cashback/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:59:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: James Farrell http://clubtroppo.com.au/2008/06/26/illogic-on-cashback/#comment-285830 James Farrell Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:27:51 +0000 http://clubtroppo.com.au/?p=5463#comment-285830 Both excludable and non-excludable goods are public goods in the sense that there is a straightforward case for public provision: without it, there will be under-supply in the former case, and under-consumption in the latter. I was taught to refer to goods that are both non-rival and non-excludable as <em>pure</em> public goods. If you reserve the term public good for goods that have both attributes, you have the problem of what to call goods that are excludable but non-rival. Some textbooks use the term 'club goods', but nobody would have understood what I meant by that. In any case, excludability is a matter of degree, since fences and tollgates are costly. None of this makes any difference to my argument. Both excludable and non-excludable goods are public goods in the sense that there is a straightforward case for public provision: without it, there will be under-supply in the former case, and under-consumption in the latter. I was taught to refer to goods that are both non-rival and non-excludable as pure public goods. If you reserve the term public good for goods that have both attributes, you have the problem of what to call goods that are excludable but non-rival. Some textbooks use the term ‘club goods’, but nobody would have understood what I meant by that. In any case, excludability is a matter of degree, since fences and tollgates are costly.

None of this makes any difference to my argument.

]]> By: Ken Parish http://clubtroppo.com.au/2008/06/26/illogic-on-cashback/#comment-285792 Ken Parish Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:30:39 +0000 http://clubtroppo.com.au/?p=5463#comment-285792 OK I'll be the mug. Why are golf and computer software public goods? Both are certainly non-rival (although golf not completely so because you can only fit a certain number of golfers on a course at a given time), but neither is really non-excludable. Golf course proprietors don't seem to have any difficulty excluding non-members, and software manufacturers have found ways (albeit imperfectly and with difficulty) to inhibit illegal copying. There must be some definitional aspect that I don't understand. Care to explain? OK I’ll be the mug. Why are golf and computer software public goods? Both are certainly non-rival (although golf not completely so because you can only fit a certain number of golfers on a course at a given time), but neither is really non-excludable. Golf course proprietors don’t seem to have any difficulty excluding non-members, and software manufacturers have found ways (albeit imperfectly and with difficulty) to inhibit illegal copying. There must be some definitional aspect that I don’t understand. Care to explain?

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