lemons problems

[ElFrikiChino]

Hi everybody.
I'm translating a dissertation for a friend, about the EC Directive 1999/44 and its importance in harmonizing each Member State's laws with a common European law (kinda).

At one point the author says: " Efficient rules for the protection of consumers’ expectations are public goods which increase the reliability of market transactions, correcting asymmetric information and lemons problems".

Is there a typo or does lemon have another meaning, besides being a yellow fruit?

 

[Teerex51]

Lemon è anche un prodotto finanziario dai risultati insoddisfacenti o un modello di automobile pieno di difetti. Vedi anche in USA la lemon law.

 

[Veledan]

Hi, it's definitely a mistake. There's a problem with the main verb too (what's the subject of 'are'?), so maybe the sentence has been transcribed and not checked. I'll add to my post if I can think of something likely to go in place of 'lemons' but I really can't think what it might mean.

Teerex is right about the second meaning of 'lemon' but that meaning is very colloquial. You wouldn't use that word in a formal text like this, and in any case it still doesn't make sense here

 

[Teerex51]

You wouldn't use that word in a formal text like this, and in any case it still doesn't make sense here

I must disagree. It does fit here (in all likelyhood minus the final "s") and it's used (maybe not in the UK) in the financial and automotive field.

http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/

 

[Veledan]

I must disagree. It does fit here (in all likelyhood minus the final "s") and it's used (maybe not in the UK) in the financial and automotive field.

On second thoughts I agree: minus the final 's' it does fit. We do use 'lemon' in the same sense in the UK, but the word hasn't made it into formal language here as far as I know. Weird how adding an 's' in the wrong place can make a sentence unintelligible to a native speaker (or maybe it's just me )

 

[ElFrikiChino]

Grazie!
In soldoni vuol dire questo? Le leggi a tutela del consumatore sono positive perchè aumentano l'affidabilità del mercato, dal momento che correggono il possesso asimmetrico di informazioni (c'è un capitolo più avanti su questo) ed eventuali problemi che ha la merce acquistata.

Potrebbe andare una cosa come "...possesso asimmetrico di informazioni e eventuali difetti riscontrati nei beni acquistati"?

 

[Teerex51]

EFC, io direi: "...ed eventuali difetti riscontrati nei beni e servizi acquistati".

 

[ElFrikiChino]

Ah giusto. Tra l'altro si parlava vagamente di servizi anche in certi paragrafi precedenti l'estratto

Grazie mille!!

 

[TrentinaNE]

On second thoughts I agree: minus the final 's' it does fit. We do use 'lemon' in the same sense in the UK, but the word hasn't made it into formal language here as far as I know. Weird how adding an 's' in the wrong place can make a sentence unintelligible to a native speaker (or maybe it's just me )

Maybe it's UK v. US. Lemons problem is a common shorthand among U.S. economists, as it derives from Akerlof's seminal paper, The Market for Lemons.

Elisabetta