Thursday 9/21 we students got to hear from James Stacey Taylor about how buying and selling things may or may not devalue their value or impact social behaviors. In this our first BFCGI speaker for the fall 2023 speaker series, Taylor used examples of sex, blood plasma, and honor societies, among other examples. In the case of paying for blood, Taylor is of the view that it is actually better than having people voluntarily give it. In partial support for that claim, he pointed out that the US provides 80% of the world’s blood plasma, and they are one of the very few countries who allow people to be paid to donate plasma. Paying helps bring more plasma to those who need it. In other cases, such as paying to get a Nobel prize or to get into an honor society, paying for such things seems to undermine their value altogether.