abstract:The Ramsey problem, or Ramsey–Boiteux pricing, is a policy rule concerning what price a monopolist should set, in order to maximize social welfare, subject to a constraint on profit. A closely related problem arises in relation to optimal taxation of commodities.
The problem, says Dr Ramsey, who analyses drug "amnesty bins", "is it takes a long while to control each of these compounds and as soon as you control one, another set appears".