Lately I’ve been reading Tim Harford’s The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World.  It’s a bit glib in places, and its reference style is abysmal (not only do you have to put up with endnotes rather than vastly-superior footnotes, but there’s no indication in the text of when a reference is being cited).  Nevertheless, it’s an eminently readable and surprisingly entertaining introduction to rational choice theory applied to stuff other than (say) investment markets or games of poker.  Turns out that H. sapiens sapiens are indeed fairly rational creatures, in aggregate if not in particular, and that common examples of endemic idiocy (politics, say) turn out to be well-explained when counterintuitive (and often, in retrospect, facepalmingly obvious) incentives are brought to light.

Incentives: I keep using that word.  Harford uses it to define a rational agent:

Rational people respond to incentives: When it becomes more costly to do something, they will tend to do it less; when it becomes easier, cheaper, or more beneficial, they will tend to do it more.

(There’s more to his definition of rational agency, but it doesn’t involve incentives and doesn’t particularly affect my point.)

Some of the groups Harford uses as examples of rational agents (in the first chapter or two of his book) are lab rats, juvenile delinquents, and Mexican prostitutes.  To this elite community I propose to add Greater Vancouverite secondary school students.

You might recall that, back in June, the British Columbian provincial government banned junk food sales in its schools.  At the time, I suggested that:

Kids who want chips and Coke will buy chips and Coke elsewhere if they can’t get it in school.

and noted that:

I doubt that anyone will learn from this clusterfuck: the object isn’t to improve kids’ health, but rather to appear to be doing so for political and social gain.

Shockingly enough, I was right.

• Junk food dealers trying to cash in (CKNW.com)

Some secondary students in Burnaby are trying to make some money off the new ban on junk food.

They’re selling the hard to resist chips, pop and chocolate bars on site.

The candy bars and chips are no longer stocked in vending machines, so some students have been bringing them in and selling them to others.

The district is aware of the situation and is now attempting to “discourage the practice”.

Its unclear how many kids are trying to cash in on those junk food cravings.

Huh.  So you’re telling me that when government bans something in high demand, “secondary markets” will step up and sell the banned thing in place of previously legitimate vendors?  That when the incentive of higher profits outweighs the disincentive of getting caught, kids will start smuggling Twinkies and Cokes into schools?

Who would have thought?  (That is, besides those of us who were paying attention?)

Update: Oh yes, this story has legs.  Now we have some “OMGWTFBBQ” from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:

• Burnaby school students run underground junk food trade

You can imagine the appended “!!!!!!1!111oneoneeleven” carefully deleted by what passes for the CBC’s web editor, can’t you?  You can’t?  That’s because you haven’t seen this image yet:

Key riced all my tea.

But wait — it gets better.

The three Grade 11 students — who asked to be identified only as Weeman, The Fern and Goggles — told CBC News they made more than $200 in the first week of school by bulk-buying candy and chocolate bars, then selling them at a profit.

Pseudonyms.  For candy dealers.

Y’know, greater Vancouver’s real gangs are throwing a real war over real drugs these days.  I’m just sayin’.