Monday, January 19, 2004

Producers have sovereignty too 

Roderick Long notes on Liberty and Power about our discussion of students and consumer sovereignty.
Suppose you want to hire me to teach a philosophy course with only multiple-choice tests, but I refuse to offer the course unless I can give essay tests. Does this conflict with consumer sovereignty? Not at all. Teaching the course my way is a consumption good for me; it's part of the price I demand for my services. And of course each of us is free to take or leave the other's offer.
Correct.

UPDATE: Stephen lays a second section:

It's also worth recalling that there's a derived demand component in education. Doesn't matter how student-friendly you make the courses if upon graduation said graduates can't find their way to the bathroom, let alone understand the lending policy or reboot the server.

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