If you surveyed people on whether they âwant to speak another languageâ I think most people would say yes. But do they go and do it in practice? No, because of the enormous amount of time/âmoney/âwork. That doesnât seem like a tragically unmet âwantâ.
I think that analogy proves too much. You could also survey people on whether they âwant to go to the doctor more often than they doâ, and if they said yes, you could shrug and say âwell they donât do it because it costs a lot of money, that doesnât seem like a tragically unmet wantâ. Whatâs the limiting principle behind âif people donât do something because they are responding optimally to their financial/âeffort costs, then public policy doesnât really need to help them do itâ?
If you surveyed people on whether they âwant to speak another languageâ I think most people would say yes. But do they go and do it in practice? No, because of the enormous amount of time/âmoney/âwork. That doesnât seem like a tragically unmet âwantâ.
I think that analogy proves too much. You could also survey people on whether they âwant to go to the doctor more often than they doâ, and if they said yes, you could shrug and say âwell they donât do it because it costs a lot of money, that doesnât seem like a tragically unmet wantâ. Whatâs the limiting principle behind âif people donât do something because they are responding optimally to their financial/âeffort costs, then public policy doesnât really need to help them do itâ?