MESSY ROOMS—CONCLUSIONS. Kids, the conclusions I come to about messy living spaces are: first it is a disadvantage in bargaining to want to change the status quo (and the status quo would be that the neat roommate does the cleaning). Second, as Bryan Caplan points out, there is no way to know how clean a room should be; it’s up to the roommates. Third, as Tyler Cowen points out, there are usually a number of other issues between roommates and spouses which involve allocating time and money. The ultimate conclusion on what will happen is: it depends. And, kids, one more thing, if you comment on the subject, please be careful about the examples you use.
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- “A COMFORT BLANKET FOR THE SMUG”? (1)
- Nick: Further informing my perspective was that in the writings of classical Romans the middle-aged authors opined...
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
- Dick Weisfelder: My prior comment was just in the context of sports. Whether or not from Pinker, I have seen the...
- erik: It seems doubtful that human nature has changed. The most likely explanation would be that modern culture gives...
- HOW BANKS PREPARED FOR A U.S. DEFAULT. (2)
- GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. (2)
- Nick: That makes sense. It reminds me of the stories Pater Familias would tell me about how in Boston the person with...
- Dick Weisfelder: Greece seems to me to be playing a game that Karl Deutsch called “underdog.” While one...
- FOOTBALL PLAYERS DELIBERATELY CAUSING CONCUSSIONS? (3)
- Nick: It was my understanding that boxing gloves were to protect the puncher’s hands and not the...
- Dick Weisfelder: Remember the Roman arenas? Bare knuckled boxing? Such injuries were taken as natural and accepted in...
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This isn’t about football. Or even sportsmanship. Well, it is about sportsmanship. But what...
- A 25 % CHANCE OF A EURO DEFAULT? (1)
- Nick: The fact that this has gone on for so long is pretty perplexing. The Economist is referring back to articles it...
- DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. (1)
- Dick Weisfelder: One can be very open to new technology, but also risk averse. The recent debates about how to...
- “A COMFORT BLANKET FOR THE SMUG”? (1)
Meta
The conclusions are all wise, but I think the most powerful is the first. The person who wants to change the status quo is at a definite disadvantage, and it even goes further than that: When trying to change one’s own habits for the better, the part that prefers the status quo has such strength and implacability. Seems to me that it’s a deep part of human nature, to either resist change or maintain the status quo, however how prefer to look at it. Amazing what insights to human nature economics can teach us!
Annalisa, I think you are extending economic analysis to negotiations between different parts of the self. George Ainslie and Robert Strotz pioneered this kind of analysis, and I think it is a growing branch of economics.