1. Normen Benjamin 04-Oct-07 at 10:38 am

    There is a common misunderstanding of the positive influence of the forces of the market, which has to be taken into serious account. It is a lack of understanding coming from a superficial reading of the credentials of a free market. We say that – not rational – but free!!! individual actors on a market, as they move rationally (not the actor is rational, but his action is..) leads to the best results. Discussions have been kept low on what a free person is. We know from sociology and psychology that it is indeed a very important question to ask.

    Ignoring this aspect reminds me of.. well, Mao sending people to schools so they learn to better react upon propaganda and saying his educational system builds the intellectual foundation for a stable democracy.

    There are several ways of dealing with the questions and there are several sets of solutions to the problem of – let’s call it – the-unfree-individual problem.

  2. Alison 28-Mar-08 at 1:42 pm

    You might want to take a look at the market for organs in developing countries. The price is too low by my moral standard. I believe it has to do with information asymmetry, but it is more than that and relates to the vendue discussion, I think. Of course, there is also an issue of property rights (see article in past 12 months re: stolen kidneys (in India I think it was..no not an email hoax…it actually happened) in NYT, I think).

Add your comments...
Comments are moderated and will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. They may be edited for length and clarity.