[Econthon] Information Asymmetry — The Hidden Cost of Not Knowing

The signal works not because the degree teaches anything useful but because acquiring it is selectively cheap.

Spence’s insight applies far beyond job markets — from peacock tails to brand advertising to ritual initiation, credibility requires that imitation be prohibitively expensive for the wrong type.

The choice is not between a mandate and freedom; it is between a mandate and a death spiral.

Health insurance markets without compulsory participation unravel through adverse selection until only the sickest remain insured at premiums approaching the cost of their actual care.