On the Inefficiency of Small Money
Consider yard sales vs. Goodwill. I
have learned that a yard sale is an extremely inefficient way to get rid of
your stuff, as compared to donating to Goodwill, if you value your time at more
than zero cents per hour.
For a yard sale you
must print flyers, post them all over the neighborhood, set up tables and
chairs, then sit there for hours and wait. If anyone shows up, they'll pay
pennies on the dollar if they buy at all, and they'll never take everything.
Whereas with Goodwill
or Salvation Army you need only load up your car, drive to the place, unload
everything there, sign a form, and claim it all as a charitable deduction on
your taxes. Simple, easy, efficient, profitable. More frictionless than Craig's
List! That's right, tax-subsidized altruism makes better economic sense than
the freest of free markets.
When the money amounts
involved are small, money is inefficient. When the money amounts are large,
money is corrupt. It's only in the middle range that money is both efficient
and honest.
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