It may not be the most comfortable form of transport, but Madrid’s metro system is surely the quickest. Nor may the metro be the cheapest, at least when considered alongside the option of walking, but when weighed against both the disutility and price of alternative modes of intra-city transit the metro is certainly the most preferable. Needless to say, it is my favorite means of community within the city and I use it just about twice a day. I only avoid it during times of high traffic, when Madrileños are going to or leaving from their place of work, or when the right mood to walk the 60 minute or so distance between the center and my flat sets in.

The metro certainly has its drawbacks. Depending on the quality of the air circulation on the train and the number of passengers, its environment can certainly become quite stuffy, humid, and hot. More likely than not, you are going to stand rather than sit, and this goes double for well-educated men, since there are plenty of people with a greater need of a seat than you. Even if you are fortunate enough to find an empty seat, we should not go as far as to claim that this will make the experience much more enjoyable. As the trains fill up, you must also stand vigilant, or else risk the theft of your possessions. In short, the metro may not be for upscale society.

Very often, though, the trip is made more pleasurable by entertainers. Most of the time, ‘on-board entertainment’ is provided in the form of music: saxophonists, singers, accordionists, and even mixtures of different talents. On the rarer occasion you might be fortunate enough to experience a more complicated talent, such as a troupe of ‘faux‘ acrobats. These individuals are not hired nor paid by the agency of public transportation; their income proceeds only from those kind enough to pay an arbitrary fee for their services. Unfortunately for performers, those willing to pay are in the minority. Yet, undeterred they continue to provide entertainment, and some may even see them on the streets, performing on sidewalks and even between cars.

For the strict economist, this is a very peculiar phenomenon. It can be assumed, without much controversy, that some benefit is transferred to non-payers. This is what some may call a ‘positive externality.’ During one’s years as an undergraduate, the assiduous student will learn that goods that emit, so to speak, positive externalities will be under-provided. In ways, the services provided by these ‘street entertainers’ are non-excludable. Certainly, confined to performing on the train or on the street, one can hardly exclude a passerby. What is more, doing as such may deprive you of an income! Yet, one can hardly assume, without deep and perhaps impossible reflection, that ‘street entertainment’ is under-provided, for it is almost everywhere! So, the economist must feel frustrated, perplexed that intuition — or no, a law! — has failed.

Indeed, perhaps Madrid is not the economist’s city. Or maybe it is a living, breathing lesson to be discovered.