In a follow-up to its earlier article about things that science can’t explain, New Scientist lists 13 More Things That Don’t Make Sense. We wonder: if you were writing a similar list for the field of economics, what would you include? (HT: Kottke) [%comments]
Things That Don't Make Sense
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Macroeconomics.
Star Trek is merely a convenient metaphor.
Speaking of cable, why we can’t choose which cable channels we want instead of paying for a “gold package” with a lot of channels we’d never choose to watch?
Why is it socially accepted to tip a waiter more than say a barber or car washer?
The Billable Hour. I do not understand how the billable hour has not become an obsolete form of billing legal services. It breeds inefficiency, encourages unnecessary and often redundant provision of work, and ultimately costs more to clients in the long run.
Regarding cable & satellite packages, it’s the current business model accepted by networks & cable/satellite companies. To summarize, traditional cable networks make money two-fold: carriage fees & advertising. The more subscribers carried by providers, the more they can make in advertising.
Cable networks negotiate carriage fees and ad space with cable & satellite providers, and many times (Disney, FOX, Discovery, Viacom, NBC Universal etc) leverage their way onto the tiers. These tiers make it possible for networks to secure potential viewership, increasing ad revenue, which help pay for programming. With individual line-ups, this model fails because overnight ESPN and others would lose potential viewers.
With digital cable, it’s now possible to deliver channels a la carte, but it would be difficult for cable/satellite providers to alter their agreements to offer channels a la carte. Imagine the fights Comcast or Time Warner would have trying to extract ESPN from basic. ESPN would have no incentive to lose potential households for its network or the litany of other ESPNs or Disney networks.
If advertising revenue is out of the picture, you’ll pay a premium for programming like you would for Showtime/Cinemax.
This business model probably needs amending as online services like Hulu offer pay-per-view or monthly subscriptions. But, for the time being, it would be difficult for lumbering cable companies to adjust. Some possible options include more personalized ads and rating services.
Health care costs. The more abundant the providers, the higher the cost.
New Scientist doesn’t say these are “things that science can’t explain”–as if “science” were a thing, or a committee. It’s a playful story about stuff people don’t understand yet. “Science” is the process we use to keep hammering away at the questions.
The government does a bad job at something, so we raise taxes expecting performance to improve.