The following excerpt illustrates the importance of personal property rights to the "care and maintenance" of property. Where no such rights exist, property tends to get overused and abused. The "Berry Bikes": A Lesson in Private Property Berry College is a private college located on a large campus adjacent to Rome, Georgia. In March 1998, the Berry College Student Government Association (SGA) used student activity funds to purchase 20 bicycles for student use on campus. The bright red bicycles, each with an identifying plate reading, "Berry Bike," were available to all students on a "first-come, first-served basis," making them a common property resource. The rationale for spending student fees was that the distance between some buildings on campus made getting to class on time difficult. Several factors would seem to favor the plan. The campus is relatively self-contained; it is unlikely that townspeople would enter college property to use the bikes or that students would ride them off campus where they would be abandoned, lost, or stolen. Moreover, the student body is relatively small. Anyone who abused a bicycle could be readily identified, and the students harmed by having bicycles mistreated would not be strangers. These factors would presumably deter would-be vandals. Unfortunately, the results of the Berry bike project were dismal. It took little time for the misuse of the bicycles to become evident. Writing in the April 2, 1998, Campus Carrier, student Liz Hill reported that "Chains have been broken, tires punctured, handlebars bent, and seats torn" after "only a couple of weeks." Recognizing the underlying cause of mistreatment, Hill implored students to "treat the bikes as if they were your own property." Evidently, her column spurred little change. On April 21, SGA President M. Lynsey Morris e-mailed all students that "It has come to our attention here in the SGA office that many students are failing to take care of the Berry Bikes…. These bicycles are top quality and should not be bending and breaking the way they are. The [SGA] officers and other students have seen many people riding the bikes at absurd speeds, doing tricks, and just abusing the bicycles in general." She too requested that students "treat [the bikes] as you would your personal property." Morris’s appeal [also] apparently met with little success; a survey at the end of the semester revealed that four of the 20 bikes were lost or stolen and 11 were in a state of disrepair. Undeterred, the SGA had the bicycles repaired over the summer recess and resumed the program in the fall. It soon became apparent that the abuse would continue. The September 10 Campus Carrier editorialized about "mangled corpses of twisted red metal that lie about campus" and concluded that "Perhaps SGA put too much trust in human nature and Berry students’ respect for property." Was that the problem? Or was it that the SGA did not understand the role of incentives? Only a month into the new semester, the SGA suspended the program with the intention of leasing the remaining bicycles to students on a semester-by-semester basis, thereby alleviating the problems associated with common-property resources.

Photograph courtesy of: (c)Ken Usami/Photodisc # AA012206; The 'Berry Bikes;' A Lesson in Private Property," the Freeman, October 1999, p. 8-9. Reprinted with permission The authors' of the article "The 'Berry Bikes': A Lesson in Private Property" are Daniel L. Alban and E. Frank Stephenson.

4.2 Role of money button

Here is a quick anecdote that illustrates the importance of money in the economy. Imagine a worker producing alternators for automobiles. At the end of the week, instead of receiving a piece of paper signed by the company, or a few pieces of paper engraved in green and black, the worker’s pay consists of ten alternators. With no desire to hoard alternators, the worker ventures into the business district to spend this income on groceries, clothing, and a movie. Obviously, the worker is faced with some inconvenient and time-consuming trading, and may not be able to negotiate any exchanges at all. Finding an owner of a clothing store who needs an alternator can be a formidable task. And if the clothing does not trade evenly for the alternators, how do the parties "make change"? It is fair to say that money is one of the great social inventions of civilization.

4.3 Consumer sovereignty button

McDonald’s has introduced several new menu items over the decades. Some have been profitable "hits," while others have been "misses." Ultimately, consumers decide whether a menu item is profitable and therefore whether it stays on the McDonald’s menu. Hulaburger (1962) McMiss Filet-O-Fish (1963) McHit Strawberry shortcake (1966) McMiss Big Mac (1968) McHit Hot apple pie (1968) McHit Egg McMuffin (1975) McHit Drive-thru (1975) McHit Chicken McNuggets (1983) McHit Extra Value Meal (1991) McHit McLean Deluxe (1991) McMiss Arch Deluxe (1996) McMiss 55-cent special (1997) McMiss Big Xtra (1999) The McJury is still out. Source: Forbes, "Polishing the Golden Arches," June 15, 1998, pp. 42-43. Updated.

Photograph courtesy of: (c) Courtesy of McDonald's Corporation;