* The only real requirement for markets to maximize the total value created by private goods and services is freedom of entry and exit. * The local water compa

* The only real requirement for markets to maximize the total value created by private goods and services is freedom of entry and exit. * The local water company may actually turn a profit if it could charge market prices. If the local water company is so great, why is there "Fiji Water"? * "Rational" only means that 1) Given any two alternatives, people can state which one they prefer; and 2) Given three alternatives, they don't get so confused they can't choose one. True, in real life, we can look at others' choices and criticize them from the point of view of our perspectives as "irrational", but that is irrelevant. * Where markets may fail to achieve first best, it may be possible for some government action to move things in the right direction. That does not mean every time there is a theoretical market failure, any and all government action is justified. Government interventions tend to fail harder and longer than markets (e.g. Venezuela, USSR, EU, Kenya, Zimbabwe). etc etc etc.