President Bush (free rider problem last night ? )

Sure, I will bite.

What is the free rider problem? I don't think he used that term anyway.

I think he is talking about the guest worker program, or the SS issue.

Maybe he is talking about the Freedom riders...



I haven't heard much of them outside of history class since the late 60's though.

Hmmm. Perhaps he is referring to the well-known problem in the inner cities where people will just hitch a ride on the back of the metro buses without paying a fare? Not sure what the federal government could do about it though. Doesn't seem like something that should come up in a S.O.T.U. address.

The Free Rider Problem. I'm not entirely satisfied with this definition (e.g. it mistakenly ties the "tragedy of the commons" to the free rider problem), but it's ok as an introduction to the concept.

I don't know where Bush mentioned the free rider problem in the state of the union speech. A quick "find" operation on the text didn't result in any hits for "free rider."

Thanks Joe... That's interesting.

What are the examples in today's America that Bush could/should have addressed? (You still there DJ? Don't leave us hanging about what the heck you were talking about.)

Or maybe Free Riders.

Here is a much better explanation of the free rider problem: Rat Democracy.

EDIT: I mean much better than the definition I previously posted. Brandon's cite is very good too.

Maybe it has to do with people who ride the bus, then claim they lost their transfers when it's time to pay. I've seen that done here. They fish around for the transfer until the driver loses patience and lets them out.

They are, in a sense, free riders. But again, I don't recall Pres. Bush addressing this the other night. Perhaps he should have...

I wonder what it means that he so obviously omitted this issue. Why should these people get transfers for free? It's society as a whole that pays in the end. I want an investigation. How high up does this thing reach?