Re 'deadweight loss', I wonder what the function of 'weight' is in this
expression and why 'dead loss' should not suffice. The Oxford English
Dictionary (1989 edition) gives under the 30th meaning of 'dead':
30. Said of a charge, expense, loss: Unrelieved, absolute, complete,
utter; also, of outlay, Unproductive, without returns. dead rent: a fixed
rent which remains as a constant and unvarying charge upon a mining
concession, etc. dead loss: a complete loss; freq. colloq., a person or
thing that is totally worthless, inefficient, or unsuccessful; complete
failure; an utter waste of time. (Cf. quot. 1757.)
Thus: unproductive, without returns.
Deadweight Loss is mentioned nowhere, though Deadweight Debt is, under the
entry 'dead weight,dead-weight':
4. attrib., as dead-weight debt, a debt not covered by assets, such as
the greater part of the British National Debt; dead-weight (safety-)valve,
a safety-valve kept down by a heavy weight.
Hans Visser
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