To Catch A Non-Economist
So I was watching "To Catch a Predator," and I realized I really dislike the show.
It's not that it's basically entrapment. It's not that the host is this smarmy guy who, even with his target handed to him on a plate, can't land many hits. It's not the constant fear that Tarun will walk into the house and be arrested.
Rather, what I hate is their disregard for basic economics. It's a rookie mistake - to ignore that people respond to incentives. It reminds me of the crude liberal notion that the cost of raising taxes is just that people have less disposable income. Wrong! People will substitute away from taxed behavior, and this distortion will usually make society worse off (the exception is the Pigovian tax, in which the taxed behavior is socially undesirable).
The incentive that they're ignoring is that, of course, the publicity effect of the show. Once predators know that this show exists, they will simply stop preying on young teenagers. The better the show's ratings get, the less predation there will be. The show is essentially self-defeating.
I don't mind when people don't grasp complicated economic concepts. The basic principles, though, are fairly obvious even with no formal economics training. That a show like "To Catch a Predator" operates in such ignorance of basic economics is frustrating, and it makes me pessimistic about our future.
It's not that it's basically entrapment. It's not that the host is this smarmy guy who, even with his target handed to him on a plate, can't land many hits. It's not the constant fear that Tarun will walk into the house and be arrested.
Rather, what I hate is their disregard for basic economics. It's a rookie mistake - to ignore that people respond to incentives. It reminds me of the crude liberal notion that the cost of raising taxes is just that people have less disposable income. Wrong! People will substitute away from taxed behavior, and this distortion will usually make society worse off (the exception is the Pigovian tax, in which the taxed behavior is socially undesirable).
The incentive that they're ignoring is that, of course, the publicity effect of the show. Once predators know that this show exists, they will simply stop preying on young teenagers. The better the show's ratings get, the less predation there will be. The show is essentially self-defeating.
I don't mind when people don't grasp complicated economic concepts. The basic principles, though, are fairly obvious even with no formal economics training. That a show like "To Catch a Predator" operates in such ignorance of basic economics is frustrating, and it makes me pessimistic about our future.
posted by James | 5:02 AM
1 Comments:
I know you're just trying to be funny, but still:
The better the show's ratings get, the less predation there will be.
Isn't that a good and socially desirable outcome? The host would certainly say so.
Anyway, there are so many predators out there I highly doubt they will ever run out of material.
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