I don’t want cellphone use on planes
Bryan Caplan trots out all the usual arguments, you know the ones I use myself when debating opponents of the market. Start with legal laissez-faire and let airlines weigh conflicting preferences and then implement the profit-maximizing policies.
I still don’t want cell phone use on planes, but I’m not going to tell you some fancy-wancy academic story about externalities imposed on infra-marginal consumers. I am still, however, looking for a good argument to use against him. Can I claim that cell phone calls are a socially wasteful means of signaling to your spouse that you care? Can I claim that commercial airplanes are modern (short-term) monasteries, and that markets undersupply such temples of silence?