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The price of something being higher than you'd prefer does not mean there is a market failure. Child care is not a public good and there are not obvious externa

The price of something being higher than you'd prefer does not mean there is a market failure. Child care is not a public good and there are not obvious externalities. Excessive regulation might be a factor but that is not market failure. The fact that the unsubsidized cost of child care is higher than some parents are willing to pay may just be evidence that there are no efficiencies to be gained for those parents. Perhaps the economies of scale for child care are less than you assume.

omegaworks 8y ago
You're computing the value of a parent's career as a single point in time salary value, and not as a integration under the curve of salary earned over time. A parent may not have the cash reserves at that single point in time to pay for childcare out of pocket, that doesn't mean that the value they get from staying employed over time does not exceed that cost. Leaving the workforce starts you over at zero. Universal childcare, especially in the earliest stages of life, provides societal externalities that vastly outweigh the cost of providing it. It ought to be a public good.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  >Leaving the workforce starts you over at zero. This is less and less true the further from tech you get. An accountant can take a couple years off without having to start near entry level.
- drjasonharrison 8y ago
  > Leaving the workforce starts you over at zero. My personal evidence where that did not occur: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjasonharrison/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjasonharrison/
flukus 8y ago
> The price of something being higher than you'd prefer does not mean there is a market failure. The price of something being much higher than the cost of production is a market failure, in this case the market has failed to produce enough supply. If the cost of wheat production remained constant but the cheapest you could get a loaf for was $50 would you not consider that a market failure?
- mattnewport 8y ago
  No, these are not necessarily examples of market failure. I'd suggest reading up on the concept. A large and long lived discrepancy between the price of something and its cost of production might be an example of market failure, perhaps due to a monopoly. It might also be due to government failure (excessive regulation, subsidies, tax policies, etc.). A temporary discrepancy is not market failure at all, it's how markets work. In the case of child care it is not even clear this situation exists, most of the reasons you listed earlier were reasons why it is expensive to supply child care and not evidence of excess profits.

omegaworks 8y ago

You're computing the value of a parent's career as a single point in time salary value, and not as a integration under the curve of salary earned over time. A parent may not have the cash reserves at that single point in time to pay for childcare out of pocket, that doesn't mean that the value they get from staying employed over time does not exceed that cost. Leaving the workforce starts you over at zero. Universal childcare, especially in the earliest stages of life, provides societal externalities that vastly outweigh the cost of providing it. It ought to be a public good.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>Leaving the workforce starts you over at zero. This is less and less true the further from tech you get. An accountant can take a couple years off without having to start near entry level.
drjasonharrison 8y ago
> Leaving the workforce starts you over at zero. My personal evidence where that did not occur: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjasonharrison/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjasonharrison/

flukus 8y ago

> The price of something being higher than you'd prefer does not mean there is a market failure. The price of something being much higher than the cost of production is a market failure, in this case the market has failed to produce enough supply. If the cost of wheat production remained constant but the cheapest you could get a loaf for was $50 would you not consider that a market failure?

mattnewport 8y ago
No, these are not necessarily examples of market failure. I'd suggest reading up on the concept. A large and long lived discrepancy between the price of something and its cost of production might be an example of market failure, perhaps due to a monopoly. It might also be due to government failure (excessive regulation, subsidies, tax policies, etc.). A temporary discrepancy is not market failure at all, it's how markets work. In the case of child care it is not even clear this situation exists, most of the reasons you listed earlier were reasons why it is expensive to supply child care and not evidence of excess profits.