Rationing of scarce resources requires mechanisms of prior choice

Evidence

The prior check, also, is an almost indispensable instrument of any scheme of rationing - that is, of planned distribution of a limited number of things or opportunities. Sometimes the restriction is compelled by natural limitations. A river carries only so much water, and has only so many dam sites. The air waves have only so many broadcasting and telecasting frequencies. In such cases a scramble for what there is will at best produce confusion, and at worst leave no pie at all for anybody. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 769

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines rationing and why prior checks are indispensable to planned distribution of scarce opportunities.
• XREF: connects to: Driver licensing emerged because after-the-fact damage suits proved inadequate — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 763; Licensing schemes serve several distinct ends beyond mere revenue collection — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 757; Economic theories encode rival justifications for who should receive resources — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 121 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Economic theories encode rival justifications for who should receive resources #expands (0.85) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 121
• Procedural requirements ration services by exploiting the poor’s lower opportunity costs #exemplifies (0.80) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 663
• Market control tradeoffs dissolve once basic goods are no longer scarce #qualifies (0.75) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 386