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You make a very good point about capitalism vs. free market. I would only amend my comment to say that I think there is evidence that too much of either capital

You make a very good point about capitalism vs. free market. I would only amend my comment to say that I think there is evidence that too much of either capitalism or free market can be damaging. For instance (and to use your definitions -- which I like -- if I understand them correctly), Comcast is the result of runaway capitalism, and the US healthcare system is too much free market. I also like your point about acquiring a monopoly by exploiting bugs in the cognitive system. I think in that sense it's a monopoly on attention and time, which results in both an economic and information monopoly. The information monopoly is especially scary to me. At least Standard Oil didn't also control what news the country read.

pdonis 9y ago
> the US healthcare system is too much free market. It most certainly is not. The US health care system is basically a hodgepodge of somewhat free markets and draconian government regulation, which combines the worst features of both. It is nothing like what an actual free market in health care would produce. To name just one important difference: in the US health care system, people purchasing health care services have no idea what they actually cost (because most of the cost is borne by their health insurance), and therefore have no idea whether those services are worth their cost. Yes, if you need a lifesaving operation you basically don't care what it costs; but most health care is not lifesaving operations but routine services like annual physical exams, immunizations, visits for simple ailments like a cold or flu, etc. Since people using these services don't see their actual cost, they don't know if they're getting proper value received for the cost. That means the most important mechanism of a free market, the ability of consumers to choose the best value for their money, can't work.
- dgllghr 9y ago
  It is absolutely way too much free market. Every healthcare system that is better than ours has way less free market and way more government control.
  - pdonis 9y ago
    > It is absolutely way too much free market. Not with the correct definition of that term. You can't have a free market if the customers don't know the cost of what they're getting. > Every healthcare system that is better than ours has way less free market and way more government control. Which systems are these that are "better"? Many have lower costs, but that's not the same as "better" since many outcomes and metrics (such as wait times for services) are also worse.

pdonis 9y ago

> the US healthcare system is too much free market. It most certainly is not. The US health care system is basically a hodgepodge of somewhat free markets and draconian government regulation, which combines the worst features of both. It is nothing like what an actual free market in health care would produce. To name just one important difference: in the US health care system, people purchasing health care services have no idea what they actually cost (because most of the cost is borne by their health insurance), and therefore have no idea whether those services are worth their cost. Yes, if you need a lifesaving operation you basically don't care what it costs; but most health care is not lifesaving operations but routine services like annual physical exams, immunizations, visits for simple ailments like a cold or flu, etc. Since people using these services don't see their actual cost, they don't know if they're getting proper value received for the cost. That means the most important mechanism of a free market, the ability of consumers to choose the best value for their money, can't work.

dgllghr 9y ago
It is absolutely way too much free market. Every healthcare system that is better than ours has way less free market and way more government control.
- pdonis 9y ago
  > It is absolutely way too much free market. Not with the correct definition of that term. You can't have a free market if the customers don't know the cost of what they're getting. > Every healthcare system that is better than ours has way less free market and way more government control. Which systems are these that are "better"? Many have lower costs, but that's not the same as "better" since many outcomes and metrics (such as wait times for services) are also worse.