Marginal Revolution: Questions from readers I cannot understand

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Questions from readers I cannot understand

What is the impact of boards? What are the implications for democracy if any?

Or this one:

...the relationship between markets and 'moral' outcomes (i.e., marginal individual decisions in the aggregate and their social costs). the role of government regulation vs. true-cost accounting for negative externalities.

I believe I am now up to 40.

Posted by Tyler Cowen on April 9, 2007 at 08:17 PM in Education | Permalink

Comments

40 what? Questions you can't answer?

What's the difference between a duck?

Posted by: Mr. Noah at Apr 9, 2007 8:29:03 PM

To be fair, the second one isn't even really a question.

Posted by: John Payne at Apr 9, 2007 9:11:41 PM

I'm sure that boards would be a complete disaster for democracy, unlike logs, which would be a huge boon. What do you think about fiberboard versus plywood and their various implications on democracy?

Posted by: Foobarista at Apr 9, 2007 9:15:22 PM

Most of the nonsensical questions are going to be spam comments... people testing to see if you're actually reading or approving comments. Either that or ESLs (English as a second language) who don't know how to conjugate their verbs in English.

Posted by: Jason G. at Apr 9, 2007 9:38:34 PM

my guess on the first one is
"What is the impact of boards? What are the implications for democracy if any?"
aka
What is impact of executive boards (of corporations) and their influence over politicians on democracy in the form of lobbyists and other influence.

The second actually seems a bit more coherent, though not much,
"...the relationship between markets and 'moral' outcomes (i.e., marginal individual decisions in the aggregate and their social costs). the role of government regulation vs. true-cost accounting for negative externalities."

What factors do moral issues play into market outcomes?

My suggestions are based on a career as a consultant wherein I have try to figure out what my clients want/need vs what they say.

Posted by: dan at Apr 9, 2007 9:47:38 PM

I thought the first meant "currency boards," which seems at least to make sense. The language in the second is too slippery to be tractable.

Posted by: blink at Apr 9, 2007 10:05:49 PM

Have you committed a random act of kindness lately?

Posted by: Jen at Apr 9, 2007 10:58:30 PM

'the role of government regulation vs. true-cost accounting for negative externalities.'

Probably asking whether negative externalities can be solved better with government regulation or Coasian bargaining.

Posted by: smithy at Apr 9, 2007 10:59:18 PM

The impact of boards depends mostly on the type of wood and the size of the board in question but the strenght of the one wiedling the board is also important. Without knowing those things it's not wise to speculate as to what the impact would be. The impact of boards has never really had much effect on democracy since for a long time edged weapons were more effective and now we use guns.

Posted by: Matt at Apr 9, 2007 11:36:24 PM

I think the second question is asking whether it is better to solve negative externalities through strict government regulation or through Pigovian taxation.

Posted by: AS at Apr 9, 2007 11:44:31 PM

See? Matt had no trouble with the first one.

Recall GBS, when asked for his view on clubs for women: "Only when all other means of persuasion have failed."

Posted by: Anderson at Apr 10, 2007 11:05:48 AM

I thought "boards" referred to "bulletin boards," or blogs. Perhaps the questioner was old. You hear a lot of old people speaking of blog comment sections as "boards."

Posted by: TJ at Apr 10, 2007 12:29:07 PM

My guess on the first one is

"What is the impact of boards? What are the implications for democracy if any?"

What is impact of executive boards of corporations having influence, rather than having executives solely (yeah right) accountable to shareholders -- i.e. one share, one vote.

Posted by: Joe Grossberg at Apr 10, 2007 2:15:02 PM

"What is the impact of boards?" is probably an S&M question...he wants a comparison of wooden paddles to other implements such as whips and riding crops.

Posted by: jens at Apr 10, 2007 10:27:21 PM

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