The Market for Lemons

The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford, tries to buy a second hand car.

You can read Harford's take on it here, where he explains "why you can never buy a decent used car".

There are endless example of market failure due to the 'Lemons Problem'. A quick Google search came up with hundreds. Links to some of them are presented below (in no particular order). Browse through them to see the extent and impact of the Lemons Problem.

The Lemons Problem and Data Security
The Lemons Problem and New Houses
The Lemons Problem and Milk in India
The Lemons Problem and Politics in the Developing World
The Lemons Problem and Financial Assets
The Lemons Problem and Wine
The Lemons Problem and Online Retailing
The Lemons Problem and Toxic Assets
The Lemons Problem and Ebay
The Lemons Problem and Power Supplies
The Lemons Problem and Mortgages
The Lemons Problem and Corporate Bonds
The Lemons Problem and Used Computers (and Online Dating)
The Lemons Problem and Credit Markets
The Lemons Problem and Hedge Funds
The Lemons Problem and Men's Suits
The Lemons Problem and Teacher Pay
The Lemons Problem and Potatoes
The Lemons Problem and Ratings Agencies
The Lemons Problem and Internet Advertising
The Lemons Problem and Used Cars and here
The Lemons Problem and Karate
The Lemons Problem and Cholesterol
The Lemons Problem and Broadband Connections
The Lemons Problem and Business Loans
The Lemons Problem and Blogs
The Lemons Problem and Lemons
The Lemons Problem and the Credit Crisis
The Lemons Problem and the Bank Lending
The Lemons Problem and Internet News
The Lemons Problem and Prescription Drugs
The Lemons Problem and the Xbox
The Lemons Problem and Legal Aid
The Lemons Problem and Zhing-Zhong
The Lemons Problem and Lawyers
The Lemons Problem and Organic Food
The Lemons Problem and Prostitutes
The Lemons Problem and Rice and Managing Agencies
The Lemons Problem and IPOs
The Lemons Problem and Consumer Leads

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