Monday, March 2, 2009
There is a problem in the state of Kansas. The point-based Williams Fund has raised the cost of going to games so much that many KU fans are forced to go without access to KU basketball games. It seems that competition in the private market for tickets has not provided for KU fans, and we can do better. What if we socialized KU basketball games and let everyone go for free?
As great as socialized basketball games sounds, we would inevitably be reminded that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” It is easy to blame a high price on exploitative capitalism or administrative inefficiencies, but it really comes down to Econ 104 — supply and demand. Even if we socialized basketball games, the big S&D would still be at work, but demand would no longer be restrained by price. With so many KU fans worldwide, the limited seating at the Phog wouldn’t provide for the unrestrained demand. We would be forced to regulate attendance, probably by a simple system like taking the third letter in a person’s middle name, converting it to a number, squaring that number, adding 5, subtracting 2, dividing by 9, converting that number to a color, assigning each game a specific color, and allowing fans to go to the game to which their color is assigned.
Thousands of fans would come to games only to be turned down because Cerulean Blue is not the same as Cobalt. Others would miss out because the Venetian Red game came on their mom’s 50th. Some fans might become so distraught with the system that they would give up.
Much would be lost by replacing choice with regulations. If we did away with the complex regulations, market forces would still determine who’s in and who’s out, but demand would then be a function of spare time. The people who could camp out the longest would get in. The long waiting lists would anger fans so much they’d switch their allegiance to K-State.
Fortunately, the KU Athletics Corporation understands the benefits of market-determined prices. As demand increases, the corporation profits and is able to invest in producing a better product. Its profit-seeking has led to a very fine product in recent years, which means more TV time and bigger stadiums and thus more supply for fans to enjoy.
We are left with a choice between allowing demand to be restrained by time or money or by complex regulations that restrict freedom to choose. In the health care industry there is much more to lose than a fan to K-State. Until we can make health care an infinite resource, it will be rationed by some system. Wouldn’t we rather it were through price than regulations?
It may seem difficult to leave such an important industry to market forces, but no other system has maximized social welfare greater than the free market.
— Davidson is a Tonganoxie senior in economics.
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Davidson: Socializing the Phog would be free but fatal
We purchased those seats with student fees, didn't we?
Davidson: Socializing the Phog would be free but fatal
"Good article. The message went over the heads of a lot of readers though, I'm sure."
And you're one of the few intelligentsia smart enough to get it? Please.
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