Economics in Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Market for Public Bathrooms

Why does Larry David have to beg a store worker to use the toilet?

Pay toilets have been around since ancient Rome – about 2000 years. So why are they common now in Europe but not in the United States?

We examine this issue through the lens of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David has stomach cramps and has to use the bathroom and quickly. For most markets, when you need a product or service, you can buy one. There is a supply, there is a demand, and there is a market price. But not in America, where it is illegal to pay for public toilets.

In the United States, a group in the 1960s protested toilets that had fees. Here is an excerpt from a Bloomberg article:

March Fong Eu smashed a porcelain toilet with an axe in front of the California state capitol, protesting the misogyny of restrooms that charged entrance fees for stalls but not urinals. She was not alone in her frustration.

Soon after, many cities and states began banning organizations from charging to use bathrooms.

What Would Economic Analysis Predict With a Pay-Toilet Ban?

The market for using a bathroom is no different than any other market. If completely privatized, there would be a supply - from people or organizations willing to provide public toilets. And there would be a demand from potential users. There would then be an equilibrium price. And, in fact, this is what happens in many cities across the world, where people pay a small amount to access a public toilet.

What does economic theory predict happens when a law is imposed banning pay toilets? A ban means nobody could profitably operate a pay-toilet. Therefore, at a price of zero, we’d expect a big shortage of publicly available toilets. Which is exactly what we see in the US.

Learn more in this video: