

Efficient Use and the Preservation of the Value of Resources.As a result, there would regularly be shortages and surpluses of goods in the economy. If people weren’t allowed to own goods and as such price them according to the quantity they own relative to the amount of demand there is for that good, then prices for goods would be arbitrarily set by a government agency and have little meaning. Without clearly defined, stable and exchangeable private property, economic goods would be unable to acquire prices that reflect their relative scarcity. Formation of Price Private property is essential when it comes to interpersonal exchange and the formation of prices.What happens when two or more people have conflicting desires to use a plot of land, or a computer, a car or a pound of sugar? Short of private property rules, competition over scarce resources could devolve into who can use the most force to exert their claim over goods to the exclusion of everyone else, arbitrary rules determined by a powerful authority, or games of chance. Two people can’t simultaneously use the same resource to accomplish their goals, or fulfill their needs.

A system of private property is the best solution to settling these disputes peacefully. In a world of scarcity and multiple acting individuals, it is inevitable that disputes over the use of goods will arise.
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Moreover, we must take into consideration not only how to distribute the existing goods, but how these goods will be used and cared for going forward. Concentrating so much power over scarce goods into the hands of a single person or committee invites corruption, as people are incentivized to bribe or threaten the decision-makers to obtain what they desire. Likewise, winning a contest or lottery is mere chance.Įmpowering a central authority to distribute goods by whim is highly arbitrary and unfair, while attempting to distribute by “need” also subjects distribution to the arbitrary definition of “need” by the authority figure. If you happen to be closest to some valuable goods, you will be able to claim them before anybody else (think: being first in line). The first three of these options include luck or chance.

These are competing visions for society that have dominated political struggles for decades.īecause all economic goods – by definition – are scarce and thus limited compared to the number of needs they could potentially serve, multiple people will desire to lay claim to such resources at the same time. “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
