Jeffrey Tucker has penned his observations of The Candy Economy, direct from the streets of Halloween. Some might be horrified at the conduct of Misean experiments on innocent children, but it sure beats the "Mice-like" experiments that are frequently conducted on adults by well meaning governments. After discussing all the evils and woes of such pagan festivals, he leaps into how the children discover prices and reinvent free trade:
"What children truly adore about Halloween is what takes place after the candy has been brought back to home base: the trading. Here is where the excitement begins.""No child can fully control what he or she is given, so it is up to that child to make exchanges with others in order to obtain what he or she really wants, and to do so in a strategic manner so that overall wealth is enhanced."
Read it all and laugh: http://www.mises.org/blog/archives/002672.asp
Posted by iang at November 1, 2004 05:04 PM | TrackBackJeff Tucker is a genius. This is just hilarious!
Posted by: Stephan Kinsella at November 1, 2004 05:33 PMThe trading positioning starts well in advance of the counting of the take. Three Costums at least, scoping out the good places with rare and hard to find candy, spreading misleading information to other kids like such and such a house is dangerous, only in New York people that give money rather than candy, finding some fool who will eat marshmallow candy,and finally the trading. coming from a large family I had a retained stash and a trading stash. Baseball cards with bubble gum where highly prized and easily traded. Apples, and other types of fruit where thrown in the trash bin. At the tender age of 13 I found girls is tight costums (tigers are my favorite) more interesting than candy or maybe I found a new candy?
Posted by: jimbo at November 1, 2004 06:18 PM