Information Asymmetry

Name of the game in two articles...
Tyler Cowen and Kevin Grier on Grantland on info asymmetry in sports.
Pink Slime commentary on CEI's blog.

The former introduces the concept of what happens when one party knows more than the other - namely when the sports industry can "trick" fans.  Not particularly deep, but a good introduction if you haven't taken any hardcore economics classes before.

The latter is more interesting, with the information about pink slime's pervasiveness in the food industry.  An argument has erupted in the forum about the appropriate amount of information which should be divulged.  I agree with the author that there is some tilt in the way the media is portraying the issue, but the opposition has a good point - how do you pick and choose what information should be divulged and what shouldn't?  I think they're overselling the need for complete information, as few people operate like that; I'm the only person I know who regularly checks nutrition labels.  Complete information is a cost (otherwise, we wouldn't really have asymmetries in information), but what are the benefits?  I agree with the author's accusation of people who have taken a holier-than-thou look at the issue; on one hand, the addition of LFTB is somewhat trivial to your food.  Not completely trivial, mind you, but I think that if LFTB hadn't been dubbed "pink slime", these celebrity chefs wouldn't commenting - it is, after all, very similar to sausage.  Conversely, the doubters point out that if the matter WASN'T serious, the industry would not have disguised the fact.  Converse conversely, if it was THAT serious, the FDA wouldn't approve it.  So... how much information to divulge?  What are the costs and benefits?

My view?  I don't know about the economics side of it, but from the health side of it, I'm not a huge fan of ground beef in the first place (I stick with ground turkey), but all the health folks mention reducing processed meats; I think that's the key to LFTB.  It's probably not a big deal to consume it, but you shouldn't be consuming too much of what it's coming with in the first place.