4 ms·
> It appears that buyers prioritize lower upfront cost rather than better warranties, a trade-off that ought to be theirs to make. Not just an individual choi
by liotier 8y ago
> It appears that buyers prioritize lower upfront cost rather than better warranties, a trade-off that ought to be theirs to make.
Not just an individual choice but a social choice too, therefore the State has a role to play.
In trading lower upfront cost for shorter life, consumers produce externalities such as pollution and raw materials depletion. The State must reinternalize those externalities and the mechanism to do that is either regulatory (mandatory 10 year warranty) or fiscal (recycling tax).
- ponow 8y agoThe term "social choice" is unnecessarily confusing, and should be deprecated. I don't believe you're referring to a population as a whole making a choice, but rather a population having to endure a consequence of an individual choice. Thus the individual is potentially committing a tort. I have been accumulating unrepaired gizmos in my hoard. When is a tortious act committed? Only when I concede that I will never repair an item? What if I combined parts into a combination? I can't escape the thought that even choosing to possess an unrepairable item will be regarded as a Wrongful Act.