Funny How Economics Works

In an effort to get people to fill out the census forms on campus the resident advisers organized a two hour event involving free beer and filling out census forms. Now of course I will be the first to admit I had ZERO intention of participating in this census. Actually I was incredibly frustrated with the advertising campaign Uncle Sam had launched to guilt me into participating. I was telling my friends, in less then polite vocabulary, how it was all a ruse by the government; it does not determine where the money goes or how political districts and such are measured. I would tell my buddies that the census has no control over these things, but your local politician does. This creates its own perverse and crazy incentives by itself, but that is for another blog.

Even with all my opposition to helping out the Census Bureau the offer of a free beer made my intention of participating 100%. I obviously understand that there is no such thing as a free beer, and the opportunity cost of me spending ten minutes to run to an academic building to do it and then having to redeem the beer at the local school sponsored bar and blah blah blah. IT WAS A BEER that did not cost me my most valuable resource, money, but instead cost me something I have plenty of as a college student, time.

However I will admit if it was not for they checks and balances that the resident advisers had in place, i.e. checking my name and ID, I would have filled out 10 census forms. The census bureau would be trying to figure out for years why there are 20 Joe Busheys all living on the campus in the same year!

All in all I must applaud the RAs for proving once again how incentives change people's behavior. Oh yeah and thanks for the beers....I mean beer.