A Stitch in Haste

I've developed a bit of a soft spot for the nutjobs over at GoldenPalace.com, not because of my interest in casino gambling (I don't gamble online), but because they won the rights to name the critter I would have named "Roark's Monkey" -- see this post and update.

The GoldenPalace.com people have developed quite a penchant for bizarre (and in my opinion foolish) advertising gimmicks. They bought the (partially eaten) "Madonna grilled cheese sandwich" and a car that once belonged to Pope Benedict XVI.

Well, here's their latest stunt:

For $10,000, Kari Smith has gone ahead and had her forehead tattooed with the Web address of a gambling site.

[Smith], 30, who sold her unusual advertising space on eBay, said the money will give her 11-year-old son a private education, which she believes he needs after falling behind in school.
...
Smith's eBay auction attracted more than 27,000 hits and 1,000 watchers. Bidding reached $999.99 before Goldenpalace.com, an Internet gambling company in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada, met Smith's $10,000 asking price.

Kari Smith valued her son more than her forehead. Jean Valjean valued his family more than nineteen years of his freedom.

Talk about "Freakonomics."

Seriously though: economists, lawyers and philosophers often have to grapple with the difficult question of putting dollar values on things we like to think are "priceless," like health (e.g., bans on paid organ donation), dignity (think "Fear Factor"), our pets' lives (i.e., costly animal surgeries) or even human life itself -- see my previous post.

The great thing about capitalism and libertarianism is that they both recognize that, in the real world, we often do have to make those "callous" valuations and act accordingly. Libertarians and capitalists don't try to forcibly substitute our judgment for other peoples' or favor letting the government remove economics from the equation in the name of nebulous "higher values." We recognize that economics can't always be removed from the equation and that limiting choices, even in the name of patermalism, makes people worse off.

Not that I think the people behind GoldenPalace.com are particularly good entrepreneurs. As I blogged back when they bought the naming rights to Roark's Monkey:

I would hazard a guess that if GoldenPalace.com keeps shelling out insane amounts of money for advertising stunts like these, then yes, they can expect Roark's Monkey the GoldenPalace.com Monkey to be around long after GoldenPalace.com has itself become extinct.

But as for Ms. Smith, I say more power to her.