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Why government regulation of airline fares created ‘quality waste’
Why government regulation of airline fares created ‘quality waste’
Feb 11, 2026 7:47 AM

Note: This is post #28 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics.

If you flew on an airplane prior to 1978, when the government regulated air fares, you probably noticed the high quality of air travel—wide seats, good food, friendly service. But as economist Alex Tabarrok explains, that was actually a bad thing for customers since the government imposed prices floors created “quality waste.”

(If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the gear symbol) and changing “Speed” from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.)

Previous in series:What you should know about rent controls

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