Poor, Unfortunate Students

Just a little something I find a way to squeeze in to the first day of class.

Goldilocks and the Median Voter Theorem

Since two of my vertebrae are now kissing that have no business kissing, I'm going to be teaching from a seated position a lot more, and that means relying a lot more on PowerPoint and other such abominations to teach class. Since the power goes out a lot, it would be useful to have a backup. So I'm going to finally resurrect this blog to put up some notes for my classes that they can turn to during class on their smartphones if the power goes out. This post is for ECO 303 - development - and is an easy introduction to the Median Voter Theorem for our political economy section.

Political economics is the study of how governments make decisions using economic tools. One of the earlier and easier examples is the Median Voter Theorem.

To understand what the Median Voter Theorem is, remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the original story, every bear could have porridge, chair, and bed ideally suited to his or her preferences. This is one of the good things about the market system: everyone can have exactly what they want. With government making decisions, that may not be the case at all. We are much more likely to get one-policy-fits-all. But which policy will we get?

Suppose the three bears' government will only supply one type of porridge, one type of chair, one type of bed. What will the temperature of their porridge be? How hard will their chairs and beds be?

If the three bears decide things democratically, the Median Voter Theorem tells us the answer: it's whatever Baby Bear wants!