EclectEcon

Economics and the mid-life crisis have much in common: Both dwell on foregone opportunities

C'est la vie; c'est la guerre; c'est la pomme de terre . . . . . . . . . . . . . email: jpalmer at uwo dot ca


. . . . . . . . . . .Richard Posner should be awarded the next Nobel Prize in Economics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Property Rights to Pandas

Here is an interesting example of long-term planning for contingencies:

Under the loan agreement with China, all pandas born at zoos outside the country must be returned to China after the animals mature.

  • Pandas are lent to U.S. zoos;
  • U.S. zoo patrons get to see pandas;
  • U.S. veterinarians and zoo-keepers devote many scarce resources to trying to get the pandas to mate;
  • U.S. zoo patrons get to see baby pandas grow up; and
  • China gets the grown-up off-spring at some distant future date.

    an interesting set of trade-offs.
    [h/t to Jack, who was more interested in the photo than in the economics]
 
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