Question

Suppose you having an argument with your roommate about whether the federal government should subsidize the production of food. Your roommate argues that because food is something that is unambiguously good (unlike liquor, guns, and drugs, which may be considered inherently evil by some members of society), we simply cannot have too much of it. That is, because food is clearly good, having more of it must always improve our economic well-being. Is it true that you cannot have too much of a good thing? Conversely, is it possible to overproduce unambiguously good things such as food, clothing, and shelter? Why or why not?

Answer 1

It is possible to overproduce unambiguously good things such as food, clothing and shelter but it is not so efficient neither for the government nor for private companies. When you overproduce whatever item or items, according to the market rules, price of the item or items will go down and inventories will grow, the government or companies wil lose money and reduce production for the next period, otherwise they will experience bankrupcy. The other thing that we have to bear in mind is that food is not unambiguosly good. When it is eaten properly, it is clearly good but consuming so much food can cause morbid obesity. For a man weighing more than 320 pounds a little more food consumption might mean dying of a heart attack. We can do the same analysis with other products.