# The Economics of Exploding a Baseball Summary::The Economic Benefits Derived from The Seemingly Silly Act of Exploding a Baseball Last night MSNBC televise the explosion of the baseball that some fan deflected at some important game during the last season. I couldn’t care less about the act itself, much less the game that it revolved around. But I do think it provides a good example of the free market systems at work. I don’t pretend to understand what people understand about economics. How can I when I believe that many of the economic experts who get interviewed on television and testify for  congress do not really understand the systemic nature of the economic system. I can only speculate that many people have the idea the when the ball exploded that it had the same economic impact as if the money used to purchase the ball was exploded. I want to put that fallacy to rest and to trace some of the other ramifications of that otherwise silly event. I understand that someone paid a very large sum of money to acquire that ball. Some might take this as proof that some people really do have more money than they know what to do with. Obviously, the government should tax that money away and use it for a more worth purpose. In fact, that transaction provides proof of the efficiency and benefits of the open market system. The person who destroyed the ball acquired it through a voluntary transactions not through the force of coercion—i.e. taxation. He had money that he really did not need, but he disposed of it voluntarily, and the money did not go away. Presumably, the people who got the money had a greater need for that money. He may have taken the money and purchased a product, paid off a loan, or put it into savings. It did not leave the economy. It got put to a greater good. In addition to transferring the money to a more beneficial use, this exercise had some other economic benefit. The television station and all of the people involved gained for the brief period of employment in the act. Because of the seeming popularity of the exercise, some sports bars and their employees probably did some more business than they otherwise would have. I do not consider myself a fan of baseball, but I do recognize the free market nature of the game. (I will not spend time on those parts not governed by the free market.) People spend their money freely to watch these games. They buy beer and peanuts. They buy and wear the paraphernalia of the teams. All these activities have a positive economic impact. Companies employ people to make the balls like the one they destroyed. Somebody will get paid to make the replacement for that particular ball. From here, it might be worth the time to trace the effects of a more socially valuable way to use those same resources. # Notes The Economic Benefits Derived from The Seemingly Silly Act of Exploding a Baseball Last night MSNBC televise the explosion of the baseball that some fan deflected at some important game during the last season. I couldn’t care less about the act itself, much less the game that it revolved around. But I do think it provides a good example of the free market systems at work. --- # References