The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 8

During the gasoline "crises" of the 1970s and early 1980s, many people asked why, in view of the gasoline shortage, such "utterly wasteful uses of gasoline" as auto racing were still permitted. Many urged that such "obvious waste" be curtailed in the public interest. Is auto racing an utter and obvious waste of gasoline? Try to construct a clear and defensible definition of waste that would indict auto racing but approve other uses of automotive gasoline at a time when there might be a gasoline shortage.