Self-Service Gas

Did you know that it's still illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey and Oregon? The governor of NJ says he'd consider making self-service gas legal. Of course the usual argument for this type of regulation is "jobs", which is just a code-word for "special interests".

Here's my proposal: make it illegal to cook your own food. We all know how many people injure or poison themselves cooking every year. Think of the boon to the restaurant industry!

Monopolistic Pricing in Ballparks

According to the Boston Globe, several baseball teams are switching to smaller ballparks. The article cites two reasons:

Fans get a more intimate stadium, with better sightlines to the field. Shrinking the ballparks also has another effect: By making tickets scarcer, teams create urgency among fans and drive up demand. When fans worry about getting seats, they buy earlier and invest in season tickets -- which brings guaranteed money for the teams and insulates them from slumps on the field.

I don't think this analysis is quite right. The better sightlines are still available in the old stadiums (at higher price), and it's not obvious that this will increase season tickets. More likely explanations:

• It restricts supply, which increases prices and profits--classic monopolistic pricing.
  
• It makes the game more exciting, which increases its fan base and further drives up prices.
  

Guest Blog: Why Are Japanese Restaurants Expensive?

The Efficient Frontiersman's younger brother asks: why are Japanese restaurants more expensive than Chinese restaurants? His theories:

• Japanese food often requires fresh ingredients, and labor-intensive presentation.
  
• There are insufficient Japanese restaurants for an efficient market, so competition doesn't push down prices.
  
• Japanese restaurants cater more to non-immigrants, who are willing to pay a premium for exoticness.
  
• An American dollar goes a long way in China, but not in Japan. If these restaurants are run by and catering to immigrants, the may have a skewed idea of the worth of a dollar.
  

Personally I don't think (4) is true, as many Japanese restaurants are actually run by Chinese. (3) is plausible, except in many parts of the country Chinese restaurants do not cater to immigrants. (1) could be tested but comparing prices of sushi against other Japanese food. I suspect (2) is most likely; there's simply a glut of Chinese restaurants, so competition pushes prices down.