If Government Ordered Your Lunch

Could the U.S. government ever fulfill every American's wishes? What would that require?

Professor Antony Davies demonstrates the inherent problems with government planning through the simple analogy of ordering lunch. Only individuals themselves have the knowledge of what their own needs and desires are and how they can best fulfill them.

"Consider a very simple case. You've got a room full of twenty people, and you, personally, have to order lunch for all of them. Now, immediately you've got problems of dietary restrictions and what people like and what people don't like; you're going to get it wrong. What's going to happen is, for some of these people, you'll order the right lunch, for a lot of them, you won't order the right lunch, and they're going to be unhappy.

And that's just ordering lunch. Now imagine trying to direct lots of economic decisions, from what type of light bulbs you put in your socket at home, to what type of gas you put in your car, and immediately you see this problem of when the government comes in and attempts to decide for us what's best for us. Even if it is benevolent, it fails because it lacks the necessary information to make those decisions correctly." --Antony Davies

Check out http://www.economicfreedom.org/videos to see the rest of our videos!

• Category

  Education

[toymation]

All of these videos are awesome :D

[freesk8]

Russell Roberts has a great article where he makes an analogy between govt and a restaurant. When we pay for our own meal, we order frugally. But if the tab is being split across all the tables at the restaurant, we tend to order way too much stuff because the cost is shared... I think it's called "If you're paying, I'll have top sirloin..."

[constantinemagnuse]

yeah it's totally true, for the time being. However do not forget that technology advances and these arguments could fail in the (far) future. :)

[SDTPW]

holy crap. that was a ridiculously good explanation.

[PiratesWonderful]

I actually have a BS in economics and run a successful business based off the principles of saving for capital investment I learned reading that book. I know this is Youtube and every one will character assassinate those they don't agree with, but what exactly do you do for a living again?

[MSimky]

If you actually get a degree in Economics, you'll realize that "Economics in One Lesson" is right wing political propaganda that has nothing to do with the academic discipline and professional practice of economics.

[MSimky]

FYI, many Lasik patients have serious negative side effects, including permanent dry eyes, distortions in their vision, double vision, haziness, prisms and rainbow effects, difficulty driving at night, over correction that causes eye strain and muscle fatigue and difficulty reading, infection, and many other problems.

You would know that if you bothered to read a medical journal instead of pretending you know something about healthcare based on the tenets of your Libertarian religion.

[MSimky]

Pick up a few degrees in Engineering--electrical, mechanical, optical, computer, a law degree with a specialization in patents, and a medical degree with a specialization in opthalmology--and then you'll know how Lasik got better.

It has nothing to do with anything you read about on Mises or your Libertarian religion.

[MSimky]

Do you realize you're just reciting a religious incantation to ward off independent thought?

[MSimky]

And I direct you to something called "affinity fraud."

Think your fraternal brothers, or fellow libertarians, or co-religionists can't defraud you? Think mutual insurance companies are going to give you a fair shake?

Think again.

[MSimky]

I'm glad your so tough and independent.

Go live on a deserted Island, and live out your Robinson Crusoe fantasy for the rest of your very short life.

Without other people purifying your water, protecting your air, keeping criminals away from your property, inspecting your food, regulating the safety of your electronics, you'd have died a long time ago.