The economics of surplus sleds

Monday, we went sledding at Wing Mountain outside Flagstaff. But, since I was far too cheap to spend fifteen dollars on a third sled, the five of us were sharing just two. So my hungry eyes couldn’t help but notice the extra sleds people had left temporarily unattended at the top of the hill, a condition which persisted the entire time we were there. (Presumably, this was because they had brought enough for each individual but were instead sledding together.) This made me imagine how various viewpoints might react to such an inefficient distribution of resources:

The Egoist would simply take the sled, preparing some plausible lie if challenged or caught by the owner.

The Utilitarian would take the sled, believing it’s okay to borrow without permission to increase utility.

The Libertarian would consider this rich-poor “sled gap” to be a mere natural byproduct of having a system of property rights and therefore evidence of freedom.

The Socialist would lament the lack of a Federal Department of Snow-Toy Resource Maximization.

The Capitalist would consider whether some sort of per-ride rental system for temporarily unused sleds might solve this market inefficiency.

The Christian would wish he owned extra sleds so he might share them freely with others who lacked them.

And of course, the Talk Show Host would see an opportunity to illustrate economic paradigms.