Speaking about a recent trip to Switzerland, Daniel Hamermesh made the following comment in the New York Times:

A waste of time! After arriving at our hotel in Switzerland at 7 p.m., my wife and I had both hoped to work on our computers—but we couldn’t. Although we had bought universal plug adapters (which convert American plugs to European, Australian, and English outlets), it turns out that Switzerland has its own unique threeprong plug. Why? This kind of plug adapter is not sold with standard adapter sets. Why does Switzerland renounce the network externalities that would come with using standard European plugs with their standard 220-volt electricity?

How is Switzerland “renouncing network externalities” by not using standard European plugs?

From “If Switzerland Would Only Change Its Plugs” by Daniel Hamermesh, from the Freakonomics Blog, September 23, 2008. Copyright

© 2008 by Daniel Hamermesh. Reprinted with permission of the author.