Your MesaZona blogger's favorite economist is definitely Niall Ferguson, while Sanford Ikeda is certainly getting more of my attention lately. His friends call him "Sandy"; I'm not one of his friends [except on FB], but I do really admire what he does and what he thinks.
Who is Sanford Ikeda?
Sanford Ikeda is a professor of economics at the State University of New York, Purchase College. He is an expert on the economy of cities, taking an Austrian School approach to the subject.
He is the author of Dynamics of the Mixed Economy: Toward a Theory of Interventionism (London: Routledge, 1997) as well as articles in the Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Economics and Humane Studies, American Journal of Economics & Sociology, Cosmos + Taxis, the Review of Austrian Economics, and the Independent Review, Forbes, and others. He received a B.A. from Grove City College and a Ph.D. from New York University.
Here's just one reason: what he got published on 24 Jan 2019 online in LIBERTARIANISM.org . Down-to-earth and it starts with a hamburger
"Ask a friend how much that hamburger cost him and his response might be something like, “It cost me $5.” If he were economically savvy, he might include in his response the value to him of what he would have spent that $5 on if he hadn’t bought the burger plus the time it takes him to consume it (which he could have spent doing something else).
By contrast, ask the manager of the restaurant where your friend bought the hamburger how much that burger cost and her response might be “It cost me $0.50s worth of labor, $0.50 in ingredients, and $2.50 in rent, insurance, overhead, gas, electricity, maintenance, and equipment.” And if the manager had taken a good economics course she might include the value to her of other things she could have spent that money on and also the value of what she would have done had she not decided to sell hamburgers."
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Blogger Note: Follow along . . . Follow along . . .it's value-added
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These costs involving our alternative choices are called “opportunity costs.” In economics, all costs that are relevant to decision-making, unless otherwise specified, are opportunity costs. But which perspective should you take if you’re trying to answer the question, “How much does that hamburger cost”? Whose point of view, even if we rightly include opportunity costs, is the “correct” one? How might this help us to analyze issues of public policy? Follow along . . .it's value-added
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THE MEAT-OF-THE-MATTER =
These costs involving our alternative choices are called “opportunity costs.” In economics, all costs that are relevant to decision-making, unless otherwise specified, are opportunity costs. But which perspective should you take if you’re trying to answer the question, “How much does that hamburger cost”?
Whose point of view, even if we rightly include opportunity costs, is the “correct” one?
How might this help us to analyze issues of public policy?
_________________________________________________________________________
Blogger Note: We need all the help we can get to help us to analyze issues of public policy
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To avoid the ambiguity, you would need to ask “What does that consumer have to give up to buy that hamburger?” or “What does that seller have to give up to sell that hamburger?” Possible answers might be, in the case of your friend, to buy a bowl of sprouts or to save for the future, or in the case of the manager, to sell a taco instead or to update her equipment.
Cost is one of those concepts that we each use in daily life but that can create misunderstanding, even harm, if everyone isn’t on the same page. Fortunately, to avoid most of the confusion all you need to do is understand the following: A cost is always a cost to someone for something. . .
READ MORE > https://www.libertarianism.org
Who is Sanford Ikeda?
Sanford Ikeda is a professor of economics at the State University of New York, Purchase College. He is an expert on the economy of cities, taking an Austrian School approach to the subject.
He is the author of Dynamics of the Mixed Economy: Toward a Theory of Interventionism (London: Routledge, 1997) as well as articles in the Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Economics and Humane Studies, American Journal of Economics & Sociology, Cosmos + Taxis, the Review of Austrian Economics, and the Independent Review, Forbes, and others. He received a B.A. from Grove City College and a Ph.D. from New York University.
What’s the Economic Meaning of Cost?
Often, the meaning of cost varies when you ask different people who are part of the same single transaction.
"Ask a friend how much that hamburger cost him and his response might be something like, “It cost me $5.” If he were economically savvy, he might include in his response the value to him of what he would have spent that $5 on if he hadn’t bought the burger plus the time it takes him to consume it (which he could have spent doing something else).
_________________________________________________________________________________
Blogger Note: Follow along . . . Follow along . . .it's value-added
_________________________________________________________________________
These costs involving our alternative choices are called “opportunity costs.” In economics, all costs that are relevant to decision-making, unless otherwise specified, are opportunity costs. But which perspective should you take if you’re trying to answer the question, “How much does that hamburger cost”? Whose point of view, even if we rightly include opportunity costs, is the “correct” one? How might this help us to analyze issues of public policy? Follow along . . .it's value-added
_________________________________________________________________________
THE MEAT-OF-THE-MATTER =
These costs involving our alternative choices are called “opportunity costs.” In economics, all costs that are relevant to decision-making, unless otherwise specified, are opportunity costs. But which perspective should you take if you’re trying to answer the question, “How much does that hamburger cost”?
Whose point of view, even if we rightly include opportunity costs, is the “correct” one?
How might this help us to analyze issues of public policy?
_________________________________________________________________________
Blogger Note: We need all the help we can get to help us to analyze issues of public policy
_________________________________________________________________________
A Cost Is Always a Cost to Someone for Something
The problem here is that asking “How much does that cost?” is itself ambiguous. A cost is never disembodied but is always connected to a specific person who is making a particular decision.To avoid the ambiguity, you would need to ask “What does that consumer have to give up to buy that hamburger?” or “What does that seller have to give up to sell that hamburger?” Possible answers might be, in the case of your friend, to buy a bowl of sprouts or to save for the future, or in the case of the manager, to sell a taco instead or to update her equipment.
Cost is one of those concepts that we each use in daily life but that can create misunderstanding, even harm, if everyone isn’t on the same page. Fortunately, to avoid most of the confusion all you need to do is understand the following: A cost is always a cost to someone for something. . .
Why Does It Matter?
Okay, so a cost is always a cost to someone for something. But what confusion or harm might arise from not understanding that?Expenditure Accounting vs. Economic Costs
But what about the expenses you record in your household budget or your business’s spreadsheet? Are they costs? The data you record in on such ledgers may indeed help you to make buying and spending decisions in the future, but they are not your true, economic costs.READ MORE > https://www.libertarianism.org
