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Why London’s NYE Fireworks Display Broke Economics Textbooks

by QuasiAlon on 12/31/20, 4:50 PM with 24 comments

• by FalconSensei on 12/31/20, 6:58 PM

  Seeing fireworks is non-rivalrous, but being somewhere is. So getting a good viewing spot for the fireworks is rivalrous.

  BTW, the title doesn't make any sense

  edit: typo

• by humanistbot on 12/31/20, 6:59 PM

  What a sensationalist, clickbait title of a very short piece written in 2019 and republished now to get some NYE traffic (needs a year in the title).

• by sweetheart on 12/31/20, 6:46 PM

  This doesn't make clear at all how converting the free event to a ticketed event "broke" economics textbooks.

• by Symbiote on 12/31/20, 7:22 PM

  > it doesn’t make economic or practical sense for the organisers of the fireworks display to actively exclude people from viewing it, say, by hiring security staff that will actively patrol and prevent people from looking up into the sky

  It absolutely makes sense. Before the restrictions, watching the fireworks meant ensuring a crush of people for hours, and even getting away from the riverside afterwards could take over an hour. Getting a paramedic in and out of that was terrible, not to mention toilets and small children.

  Anyone who can look up to the sky is welcome to do so, from hills, rooftops, balconies etc.

• by kurthr on 12/31/20, 6:43 PM

  So all of the ticket proceeds go towards collecting fees and enforcing the ticket restrictions... so as to reduce public good.

  Sounds a lot like charging for WiFi, which usually costs as much to administer and enforce as it collects.

• by mlinhares on 12/31/20, 6:57 PM

  Perfect example of when it should have been made of a bunch of smaller fireworks displays, so that people wouldn't want to travel as far but would still be able to watch a fun show.