Unit 1: Merit goods, information failure, and an ironic death!

When the government thinks that consumers do not have enough information to make good decisions, it often steps in and encourages consumption in some way. But not everyone appreciates this government intervention, for example some parents don’t want to get their children vaccinated and some motorcyclists would prefer to take the risk of not wearing their helmet.


In the United States, helmet laws are done on a state by state basis and as the graphic below shows, range from 100% personal choice eg Iowa, to mandatory helmets for everyone eg New York. Most have something in between, usually that under 21’s must wear a helmet.

It was in New York that Philip Cantos was participating in a protest against the state’s mandatory law with 550 other riders. Unfortunately, while riding he came off his bike and his head hit the pavement and he was pronounced dead at the local hospital. According to the medical experts, he would have survived had he been wearing a helmet.

A link to the article can be found by clicking here. It gives opposing two points of view - firstly that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of a fatality by 40%. Secondly, helmets do prevent accidents and that “The decision on when to wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle should remain with each responsible adult rider.” The resulting discussion should add interest to any lesson on merit goods.

And related to this, the “top 10 craziest ironic deaths of all time” is an amusing, if a little macabre read!