Here's an economics professor who HAS NOT A CLUE about public goods or the public sphere.
Go preach&teach finance, @PMourdoukoutas
Go preach&teach finance, @PMourdoukoutas
He teaches at a private institution named for Post cereal founder Charles William "C. W." Post. The LIU Post bio says @PMourdoukoutas speciality is macroeconomics ("world economy") and his writings focus on the firm and FINANCE
liu.edu/CWPost/Academi…
liu.edu/CWPost/Academi…
I'm making the case that the topic of this Forbes contributor essay is outside his academic expertise. His PhD is from Stony Brook, which USNews and World report ranked as 63rd (tie) for econ in 2018 (may not reflect ranking when @PMourdoukoutas attended)
usnews.com/best-graduate-…
usnews.com/best-graduate-…
JSTOR shows one article by @PMourdoukoutas in The American Journal of Economics and Sociology
Seasonal Employment, Seasonal Unemployment and Unemployment Compensation: The Case of the Tourist Industry of the Greek Islands
Vol. 47, No. 3 (Jul., 1988), pp. 315-329
Seasonal Employment, Seasonal Unemployment and Unemployment Compensation: The Case of the Tourist Industry of the Greek Islands
Vol. 47, No. 3 (Jul., 1988), pp. 315-329
Public goods represent a unique form of market failure:
non-excludability and non-rival consumption.
Non-excludability means non-payers can enjoy benefits. This means you do not have to be a taxpayer or have a library card to use public library facilities.
non-excludability and non-rival consumption.
Non-excludability means non-payers can enjoy benefits. This means you do not have to be a taxpayer or have a library card to use public library facilities.
Non-rival consumption means that if something is offered to one person, it's offered to all.
Some argue that libraries are quasi-public-goods because they have some rules: for example, residency required for library cards (muddied by regional library collaborations)
Some argue that libraries are quasi-public-goods because they have some rules: for example, residency required for library cards (muddied by regional library collaborations)
But that applies only to checking out resources, not walking into a library and using the facility. If you go to a town that is not your home town, you can still walk in and use a public library. You just can't check out a book (probably).
Once upon a time, I had a detailed lecture on the subject due to the public-good nature (non-excludable, non-rival) of much of the Internet.
slideshare.net/kegill/digital…
slideshare.net/kegill/economi…
slideshare.net/kegill/digital…
slideshare.net/kegill/economi…
Libraries USED TO BE PRIVATE, which is what would happen if we turned libraries over to Amazon or Google. When did they change?
With Andrew Carnegie, who established more than 1,600 libraries in the US.
loc.gov/rr/news/topics…
With Andrew Carnegie, who established more than 1,600 libraries in the US.
loc.gov/rr/news/topics…
I'm pretty sure that Andrew Carnegie would tell @PMourdoukoutas that privatization of a community resource is wrong, based on his 1889 essay entitled "Wealth"
jstor.org/stable/2510179…
jstor.org/stable/2510179…
"There remains, then, only one mode of using great fortunes ... [the man of wealth should] set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravegance ... and ... consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds ....
"[The man of wealth has a duty to administer those funds in the manner that is] best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community."
Libraries are situated in COMMUNITY NOT PROFIT.
And they offer more than books, CDs and DVDs. In Woodbine, IA, the library loans cake pans, for example. That's because libraries serve community needs.
npr.org/2013/08/01/207…
And they offer more than books, CDs and DVDs. In Woodbine, IA, the library loans cake pans, for example. That's because libraries serve community needs.
npr.org/2013/08/01/207…
In addition to arguing that @Amazon should build libraries, @PMourdoukoutas also argues that other private spaces, like @Starbucks, are more useful gathering places than libraries.
Evidently @PMourdoukoutas thinks that the entire country is upper middle class and can easily afford $4+ cups of coffee all the time. He's probably a cheerleader for private toll roads, too.
AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM IS A MYTH.
ALL THINGS CANNOT BE MEASURED WITH DOLLARS.
AMERICAN INDIVIDUALISM IS A MYTH.
ALL THINGS CANNOT BE MEASURED WITH DOLLARS.
Another example of how this man doesn't know what he's talking about (or else he's trolling):
Amazon has been collecting sales taxes in all states for more than a year:
money.cnn.com/2017/03/29/tec…
money.cnn.com/2017/03/29/tec…
PSA: being a @forbes contributor does NOT mean that you are writing FOR Forbes, with editors and such. It's a big user-generated-content farm.
LIU econ professor Panos Mourdoukoutas thinks Amazon should replace public libraries to save taxpayers money. He's wrong, and his essay is poorly reasoned and an embarrassment to economists everywhere.
wiredpen.com/2018/07/22/sho…
wiredpen.com/2018/07/22/sho…
