while tipping at first glance doesn't appear to resemble a traditional market transaction, it becomes apparent once you consider that what a tip is being exchanged for is nothing less than an update to the counterparty's belief about your desired future state of the world

the subtext of the tip transaction is "I want more of what you're doing to happen", and the market dynamics emergent from this are that of "I will behave in a way I believe will get me more tips"

this is equivalent to a behavior market, albeit an implicit & limited informal one

the OP is exactly right in that the problem with tipping is that it does not go sufficiently far; maximally extending the markets reach, enabling ubiquitous automatic transparent microtransactions, can and would remedy so much of the world's dysfunction

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RT @pee_zombie
finance is unsavory only when it's visible; everyone knows its uncouth to talk too much about money. just like the plumbing, it should quietly work in the background …
https://twitter.com/pee_zombie/status/1627799875294228486

consider a world where "tipping" is formalized as bids in a multidimensional behavioral market, which could be fulfilled by any willing counterparty; the order book would provide a snapshot of the cultural zeitgeist, and the transaction history a record of its trends over time

imagine if you could review the order book for any action you were considering taking, but were unsure of the social consensus on

if descending the market gradient could lead to ethical behavior through structured bidding by interested parties

govt subsidies and fines are already an informal, illiquid version of precisely this mechanism; why not extend it and allow any entity to participate? why can only Uncle Sam subsidize behaviors?

perhaps I want to encourage my neighbors to pick up litter on our block

markets are less a feature of capitalism and more a tool for connecting matching desires