Source: EconLog
by Kevin Corcoran
“Many years ago, shortly after joining the Marines, I signed up for a bone marrow donor registry. … [The process] seemed very daunting. In the end, I decided I’d go ahead and do it. … This stage of being right at the line, right at the tipping point of moving from one option to an alternative, is what economists have in mind when we talk about ‘the margin.’ When making that decision, I was the marginal donor – the person who was just over the cusp of being willing to go through with it. The costs were all the complications described above, the benefits were the fulfillment of a general desire to help someone in need. For me, at that time, the benefits just narrowly outweighed the costs. But suppose it hadn’t.” (12/19/24)