This is a meritable good. Proffers an orange.
It’s a merit good because it is good for you. I am presenting it to you because it will do you good. Vitamin C, fiber, general sense of well-being increased more greatly than if you were replace it with a Snickers bar. Some people would rather have a Snickers bar. Probably a lot of people would rather have a Snickers bar. Or even a Nutrigrain, and even that is considerably worse than this orange. May I present to you this Orange? Do you want it? You don’t want it. Or you say you’ll take it but you won’t eat it.
Why is it that you’ll take this orange and not eat it? Why won’t you eat it? I want to get to the bottom of this. Is it because it is too hard to eat? Is it because the payoff is not as great as a Payday? Is it the Pith? For me, it’s the pith. I would probably take it, and make a deal of taking it, and then not eat it. Frankly, I would probably do that.
My question then is whose responsibility is it to make you eat this orange instead of a snickers bar? If that is what is preferable that you do – for what reasons and to what degree. In part, the government is interested in having you chose oranges above Snickers bars because oranges contain fewer calories, fat content and greater vitamins and healthy dietary components that are undervalued in the national average diet. The government is interested in the preferment of oranges, as it is speculated that greater orange consumption would result in lower tax spending on the social, political and financial issues of obesity, of… tooth decay, of adhd caused by sugary foods, of having a population that needs larger clothes, wider airplane seats, bus seats and train seats, becomes more dependent on air conditioning… and then all the indirect effects that can be directly derived from the primary problems – increased video game use, increased use of social networking websites in lieu of actual interactions, the food industry and the widening gap between nutritional content and cost, the widening gap between the quality and quantity available to Western citizens versus that available to countries that perceive food as a necessity, rather than a treat or snack or tidbit or morsel to be gobbled up without much thought. I mean, do you really think about popping open a can of diet coke when you do it? No. But oranges take a while to eat – I bet you are aware of the supposed good you are doing when you bruise open an orange, peel it, pick the pith away and slowly chew those smiley little segments…
So a merit good is a good that the government – or that beings of higher moral purpose, are interested in promoting because they are de facto greater than their market value – if market value is the interest of the citizens in purchasing and making use of them. If common citizens omit to include something on their daily budget that the government thinks should be there, it is probably a market good. That can be anything from oranges to higher education. And there is market time also – the time it takes to finish higher education… but I digress.
Do you want the orange?
Do you want it now?
What do you imagine that this orange would bring you?
What can you glean from looking at it here as it is in my hands.
You are all seasoned inspectors of fruit. Any guesses as to its quality?
Takes comments from audience, affirms or negates accordingly.
But with this – what would you expect? Pulls out a snickers bar.
Takes comments from audience, affirms or negates accordingly.
So we know exactly what we’ll find in the Snickers bar, but are a little tentative about the true nature of the orange. It could be a bum orange.
Peels the orange. Eats some. Hands a little out.
How is it, performer? Are you disappointed?
Why are you pleased, or disappointed?
I’m a wine drinker. I’m not a seasoned wine drinker, but I enjoy wine. I enjoy the surprise of wine. I enjoy the surprise of oranges. The incredible ones make all the dour ones worth it. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not.
Do you want some now? Now that I’ve peeled it and everything?
Like those little bags of peeled and sliced apples you can get from Macdonalds. Does that make them more appealing?
I have to say, now that I’ve eaten something, I’m not so curious about the nature of merit goods as I previously was. A lot of curiousity gets lost once I’ve eaten.
Whose interest is that in?
