IlliniBucks

There are quite a few things on this campus that hypothetical “IlliniBucks” would be useful for. The first thing that comes to mind, since it was mentioned in the prompt, is registering for classes. This includes registering earlier in the general registration process or registering for classes that are restricted to certain majors until a certain date. Depending on the person and their individual circumstance, this could be an incredibly valuable commodity. Personally, since I’m double majoring and double minoring, I find that getting into exactly the right classes in the right semesters to be incredibly important. I would definitely use my IlliniBucks (or actual money, depending on the circumstance and pricing) to ensure that I get into the exact classes that I want.

               Another use for IlliniBucks would be getting to the front of the line for Orange Crush for basketball games. As of now, students have to line up before the games – sometimes over 3 hours before – to get the best seats. I would be willing to bet that a lot of students would rather use their IlliniBucks to skip to the front of the line for a game that they really care about. That’s not something I care a lot about, but there are quite a few sports fans that would use this opportunity.

               The issue of inappropriate pricing is interesting. If the price is set too high, only the people who absolutely want the commodity the most will pay for it, and no one else will use them. This will lead to less social good than could have been created if the price was lower and more students could take advantage of the opportunity. On the other hand, if the price is too low, too many people will use their IlliniBucks for the commodity and it will dilute the value of it. If everyone uses their IlliniBucks to get to the front of the line for a basketball game, then it’s almost the same situation as when no one used IlliniBucks. The biggest disadvantage here is to the people who don’t use their IlliniBucks for a specific commodity – they would be put at a serious disadvantage when trying to get that commodity, and would be much worse off.

               An interesting situation to consider would be whether the IlliniBucks are specific to each person, or if they could be traded or bought. If IlliniBucks could be exchanged between students, we could use the prices that the IlliniBucks are trading at as a proxy for how much real money students would pay for each commodity. This would also have social implications – if wealthy students bought IlliniBucks from non-wealthy students, the result might be further advantaging those who already have more resources, and further disadvantaging those who don’t.