The vegan in me couldn’t resist. I found a post by one of the authors of our book, Alex Tabbarok, that touched on some of the economic reasons that “in-vitro” meat (that is, meat grown in a laboratory as opposed to on an animal) might be a good thing, you can check it out here.

The post has a very interesting quote from a 1932 article by Winston Churchill, “Fifty years hence we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.” Upon reflection, I hope that many of you will find, as I have, that it really is ridiculous to raise an entire chicken just for the breast and thigh meat. Economics is the study of how we allocate scarce resources. It does not make a lot of sense to raise an entire animal and proceed to only use the parts that we find appetizing. And, while, many left over “parts” of animals are used for everything from hog feed to hotdogs, the fact remains that in-vitro meat provides a much more economical alternative.

Leaving aside the fact that it will take some time to perfect the technology to “grow” meat, there are some advantages to “in-vitro” meat. Firms would be able to cut their variable costs by only growing the parts of an animal that they know consumers would eat. Variable costs would also be reduced because the factors of production would change. The water used in electric shock tanks to stun chickens would be gone: replaced instead by petri dishes.

The consumer side of things is a little bit harder. Perhaps the most important questions is: Will consumers buy and consume meat that is grown in a laboratory? If the answer is yes, then the demand for meat will probably stay about the same, or even increase (more on this in a minute). If the answer is no, then consumers’ demand for meat will probably drop. However, this drop seems unlikely. It will take time for cultural attitudes to changes, but I think that people will warm up to the idea of “in-vitro” meat.

How is that demand for meat could increase if consumers are receptive to “in-vitro” meat? Some vegetarians and vegans may decide that ethics are no longer an issue and that it is perfectly okay to consume meat products. In this case, the demand for meat will increase.

Of course “in-vitro” meat brings up many more ethical, environmental, and social questions, but for now, it seems as though they provide economic benefits.