Without government intervention, would the U.S. be metric by now?

[Mahkato]

Seems to me that the government is a huge part of the inertia that's keeping the U.S. away from metric, with their food label mandates, mileage signs, and so on. Would a free market have made the switch to metric by now?

How can we switch? Should we switch? I know it's been tried before, but that was when I was too young to be paying attention. Would it be possible to switch without a government mandate?

Here's a map of when countries switched to metric:

 

[torchbearer]

I doubt it.
In a free market, free of government, the people would decide.
If you grew up using the english standard, why would you want to relearn the metric system?

Now- on the flip side- since we don't really produce anything anymore... those countries who are successful will dictate the standards of measure.
If we buy all our goods from china, and they use metric, we'd use metric. Or we wouldn't be able to fix the products.

 

[Bruno]

I remember as a kid in the seventies there was a big push for metric and we all learned it. It's all what you get used to, I guess.

 

[nate895]

I agree with torch. It would have stayed standard English (or whatever the standard is in that part of the world) if it wasn't for governments interfering in those countries and forcing the people to learn the new system. Personally, I like the English standard system since you can use body parts to measure things when you don't have an appropriate measuring device.

 

[Fox McCloud]

I'm pretty sure that the US, at the very least, would have remained English; I also believe that the world would have used it too because of our massive influence, but, as other mentioned here, when the government decrees something, it usually sticks, sadly.

Personally, I hope we don't swich; it sets us apart from the world, which makes us a little different.

 

[yokna7]

I scoff at your simple means of conversion!!!Simple is just not American!!!
(say it out loud with a british accent)

 

[Danke]

Personally, I hope we don't switch; it sets us apart from the world, which makes us a little different.

What sets us apart? All the swearing? Like the swearing when working on a car, etc. because of having to switch between metric and English and running around trying to find the right tool?

 

[slothman]

I think we should have a contest with the UK.
They switch to driving on the right side of the road and we switch to Metric.
I wonder which would bbe easier.

I think people would switch since they have no need to.
There may be a few problems(the Martian lander) but it works fine.

 

[Free_Trade]

Standards of Communication are Different from All Other Goods and Services

The US would not be metric. This is a very interesting and useful topic. I think the important thing to realize is that standards of communication work differently on the free market from all other goods and services. There are three prominent examples of standards of communication:
(1) Language, which we use to communicate all sorts of ideas
(2) Currency, which we use to communicate price levels
(3) Units of measure, which we use to communicate physical quantities

With most goods and services, we use what WE prefer. With standards of communication, we use what OTHER PEOPLE prefer. For example, if I go to the supermarket to buy toothpaste, I can buy the brand that I prefer, regardless of what other people think. However, when I go to pay for the toothpaste, the store-owner would demand payment in US dollars (if we're in USA), because the US dollar is used by everybody around him. The store-owner doesn't want US dollars because he likes US dollars or believes in its monetary quality, but simply because that's what everyone around him is using.

On a free market, the best goods and services generally tend to outcompete and drive out lower quality goods and services. But the same does not apply for standards of communication. Look at language for instance - the English language is very complicated, but it is becoming an international language. People don't choose to study English because of its linguistic qualities, but simply because that's what most businesspeople on the international markets use. This also explains why everyone in a country uses that country's currency, regardless of how poor it may be, with no marketplace of currencies like Hayek had suggested in his Denationalization of Money.

The framers of the US constitution appear to have been aware of this problem. Although they generally had a libertarian outlook and supported states' rights on most matters, they did provide for Congress to "fix the Standard of Weights and Measures." They also gave Congress the power to coin money and regulate its value. Language was probably not much of an issue. While they allowed a free market for most goods and services, they realized that standards of communication needed to be fixed centrally or by common agreement.

 

[Demigod]

I agree with torch. It would have stayed standard English (or whatever the standard is in that part of the world) if it wasn't for governments interfering in those countries and forcing the people to learn the new system. Personally, I like the English standard system since you can use body parts to measure things when you don't have an appropriate measuring device.

You can use body parts for the metric as well.For example 2 steps of a man with normal height are give or take a meter.Also in time you can tell by experience what is one kilogram and what is not.

This is not a global conspiracy it is a way to make things easier when trading.Can you imagine what would happen if we all used different signs for numbers? You will adopt the metric system with time cause it is superior to the one you use.

 

[Zippyjuan]

First post is to dig up a 3 1/2 year old thread on the metric system? Hmm. Points for researching old threads.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Pericles]

I remember as a kid in the seventies there was a big push for metric and we all learned it. It's all what you get used to, I guess.

That was a government push to convert, not market. The Army is metric for the most part (all distances are in meters or km), fuel was in gal. but we were familiar with liters ... Cooks still have recipes in English measures, though. Most weights still in pounds, but ....

 

[sailingaway]

no. I for one like cultural differences and am sad that Europe is all 'one country' almost now. That one cubic milimeter of water equals one gram isn't more scientific to me than one square inch of something or other equaling one ounce. Use it if you like it. It is only used here to hide inflation, selling litres where they used to sell quarts, and pricing it the same.

 

[AFPVet]

I had to learn a little bit of metric in the Air Force. We didn't use yards, we used meters lol.

 

[Sam I am]

Seems to me that the government is a huge part of the inertia that's keeping the U.S. away from metric, with their food label mandates, mileage signs, and so on. Would a free market have made the switch to metric by now?

How can we switch? Should we switch? I know it's been tried before, but that was when I was too young to be paying attention. Would it be possible to switch without a government mandate?

Here's a map of when countries switched to metric:

The reason we haven't switched is because people are still use to English standard. A Switch to the Metric system is one of those things that is going to happen eventually, as a younger generation, who's more familiar with metric, ages.

 

[Sam I am]

no. I for one like cultural differences and am sad that Europe is all 'one country' almost now. That one cubic milimeter of water equals one gram isn't more scientific to me than one square inch of something or other equaling one ounce. Use it if you like it. It is only used here to hide inflation, selling litres where they used to sell quarts, and pricing it the same.

first off, a liter is more than a quart

a cubic inch of water is equal to about 0.554112554 ounces.

there are about 14.6456 cubic inches in a cup

The metric system is a lot easier to use than English standard because units of volume, temperature, mass, and length are all related to each-other, and it's easier to convert between them

 

[oyarde]

Nah , if it was up to the people , it would have never been so much as a conversation.

 

[John F Kennedy III]

Body parts sound more impressive when measured in metric.

 

[Krugerrand]

The metric system is a bunch of hooey.

Okay, I'll admit that a base-10 system is more useful for scientific calculations. However, the English system is drastically more practical, as the measurements have evolved out of usefulness. Almost all of the English system measurements are Base-12 or Base-16. A 12 unit item is easily divided into 2,3,4,or 6 while retaining whole units. A 16 unit item can be divided in half 4 times and still be in whole units. That 1-cup of butter has 16 tablespoons. Your 1/3 cup measure cup hold 16 teaspoons. That is a measurement system of convenience.

For those convinced that a metric system is so much better I ask why you hold so stubbornly to a standard clock. Why not divide the day into 100 units instead of 24?

There is nothing intrinsically superior about a Base-10 system, other than it corresponds to how many fingers we have on our hands.

Also, the history of measurement systems is governments forcing the systems on the people. Go to towns in Germany and you'll still see the government imposed measurement units mounted on some state house walls. As an interesting tie in with my clock example .... the Government even forces us to agree on "official time." Noon is not anymore when the sun is directly above you. It's when the government says it is. Daylight savings isn't an agreement among locals (for the most part) - it's when Congress tells you to turn back and spring ahead your clock. This was not always the case. There is an old observatory outside of Pittsburgh that used to 'sell time' to the railroads. Cities set their time as was convenient for them.

 

[fisharmor]

Are you putting objects in orbit? By all means, use metric. I'm sure it'll keep people with effing PhD's from making elementary conversion errors that cause the loss of a couple hundred pounds of metal.

Are you putting up a 20 story high-rise apartment complex, and relying on the fact that it's not going to collapse and kill hundreds of people?
SAE seems to be good enough for a bunch of belly-scratching hillbillies and illegal immigrants to get the job done.