A Friday night undermybed.dk

Some days after lunch, I stop by the university bookstore. On the first floor there is, what seems to be a neverending sale of (mostly) peculiar Dutch books, but in the basement they have a nice selection of economics books. There are some textbooks, but also many popular economics books. After Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner, a small flood of books on everyday economics has started to pop up on the shelfs of even high street bookstores.

The most recent popecon book in the bookstore is Parentonomics - on the economics of raising children. I turned a few pages in the book, and came across a section on teaching children to wash their hands. Apparently, it has to be done twice in connection with every intake of food: once before eating (for the germs) and once after dinner (for the furniture). References to the military are given, where studies have shown a negative effect on sickness absence (I think it was) of handwashing. It is stated that even surgeons have a hard time remembering to wash their hands and rewards are given to the ones that do remember it.

Off course there is a lot of economics in the handwashing. If everyone else on the planet washes their hands to prevent the spread of germs, then you don’t have to do so, to enjoy the benefit of no germs. It’s a free-rider problem, and it becomes aggravated because monitoring is difficult.

Have not bought the book yet, though…