Duke University Professor Mike Munger is on this week’s Econtalk discussing the role of prices in the allocation of goods.
What is the preferable allocation mechanism if there is a limited supply of something? How do producers react to demand, and what are the signals they receive from a government purchaser compared to consumers? What can profits and market organization do for vaccine production (and desperate needs in general)? If you are curious why you can’t buy the H1N1 vaccine despite your willingness to pay, check out what Prof. Munger has to say about the matter.
Later in the episode, Roberts and Munger move to the minimum wage and its consequences in the employer-employee relationship. What happens when the price floor induces competition to express itself in different manners?
They [employers] can afford to be cruel. – Russ Roberts
Competition expresses itself along other margins. – Mike Munger
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[...] on the market for a politically feasible, but artificially low price. I call on Duke Professor Mike Munger to explain the consequences of price [...]