I have been interested lately in a paper Bill Keech and I were working on a decade ago,

It was called "The Anatomy of Government Failure."

Was AC Pigou the first "Public Choice" theorist?

There are two transaction costs problems in the background:
1. Information asymmetries and the problem of ignorance
2. Incentive problems and institutional design

Market failure is actually a thing. And it can be complicated: Kleinman and Teles, "Market and Non-Market Failures."

But so is government failure. There is no reason to expect government action to be Pareto Optimal.

The problem is that every flaw in consumers is worse in voters!

It could even be argued (I did!) that a "good" industrial policy is impossible in a democracy.

Book o'da week: The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World . 2022, Encounter Books. by Samuel Gregg.

You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz

What if crossing a mere corner of private land could land you in legal hot water? This episode tackles the thorny issue of corner crossing, where public and private lands meet at a single point, creating potential trespassing conflicts. We'll dissect Dave Schmitz's insights on the limits of property rights and the Roman law doctrine of ad coelum, which extends property rights from the heavens to the earth's core. Through landmark cases like Hinman v. Pacific Air Transport and Jacques v. Steenberg Homes, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how airspace and land use rights have evolved.

Links:

• Corner-crossing https://www.casebriefs.com/blog/law/property/property-law-keyed-to-singer/trespass-and-public-rights-of-access-to-property/jacque-v-steenberg-homes-inc/
• Corner-crossing update https://wyofile.com/ranch-owner-corner-crossing-would-erase-billions-in-private-property-value/
• More on corner-crossing https://oilcity.news/crime/court/2024/05/14/who-are-the-judges-hearing-tuesdays-corner-crossing-appeal/#:~:text=The%20panel%20for%20the%2010th,property%20in%202020%20and%202021.

• Hinman v. Pacific Air Transport https://casetext.com/case/hinman-v-pacific-air-transport
• Jacques v. Steenberg Homes: https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=17010

Book: Jeffrey Rosen, The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America. Simon Schuster.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Pursuit-of-Happiness/Jeffrey-Rosen/9781668002476

You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz

Can a single $100 bill solve an entire town's debt crisis? This riddle is a window into transaction costs. I rely on Jeffrey Rogers Hummel's insights, adding a few thoughts of my own.

And a cool letter: Ever wondered why you haggle for a car but not for your morning Starbucks's coffee?

Plus, a book recommendation: Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund Phelps' "My Journeys in Economic Theory," a compelling read that blends economic insights with political theory.

Links:

• David Henderson gives a statement of "the riddle"
• J.R. Hummel's web site
• Similar story, from LvMI

Haggling:

Sebastian Schweighofer-Kodritsch, "The Bargaining Trap," Games and Economic Behavior, November 2022, v. 136, pp. 249-54.

Book recommendation:

• Edmund Phelps, My Journeys in Economic Theory. Columbia University Press. https://cup.columbia.edu/book/my-journeys-in-economic-theory/9780231207300

You can follow Mike Munger on Twitter at @mungowitz