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Not quite Coase
While on location in September on Moreno Avenue in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood, a broad street lined with substantial homes, producer Ronald Schwary's location team asked Stefanie and Myron Roth to halt their noisy tree trimming. Some bargaining ensued, and the Roths agreed to send the trimmers away in exchange for $1,000.
A nice use of Coasian bargaining, no? No, not in Hollywood.
Rather than pay them quickly with a check, Schwary, winner of a best picture Oscar for the 1980 film "Ordinary People," rounded up 100,000 pennies and had them delivered, weeks later, in 20 densely packed bags to the Roths' house.
...The Roths, who said they could not even lift the 30-pound bags, were not amused.
Thanks to Nicholas Tabarrok for the pointer.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on October 26, 2004 at 07:05 AM in Economics | Permalink
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» For the quizbowl readers from Polyscifi
Last night the Coase Theorem came up in trivia practice. In short, the Coase Theorem says that market forces (specifically bargaining sans government intervention) can efficiently resolve any property dispute.
Today Alex Tabarrok on Marginal Revol... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 26, 2004 10:12:50 AM
» Lesson: Don't Deal with Hollywood Types from Not Quite Random
Sometimes saying "payment
in cash" is not specific enough.
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Tracked on Oct 26, 2004 3:34:03 PM
