The room the economy can't see
The author discusses the importance of government-funded community spaces, such as gaming clubs for teenagers, which provide social value that the market fails to capture. These spaces rely on public grants because they do not generate direct profit, illustrating the concept of positive externalities.
Why it matters
This highlights the necessity of public funding for social infrastructure that provides intangible benefits to community well-being.
There is a room in Stockholm where a bunch of kids I know hang out. It is a Sverok lokal, which is to say a little clubhouse for a gaming association, and it is exactly the unglamorous kind of good you would hope it is. Kids who do not have anywhere else to be go there. They play games, they argue about games, they sit around being teenagers together in a warm room that is not their bedroom and is not a shop that expects them to keep buying things. Some of them would be pretty lonely without it. It is, by any reasonable measure, a small and real social good.
The piece uses economic theory to advocate for social funding, which is a common perspective in cultural and economic commentary.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in