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> If one argues in favor of "free market" solutions for healthcare, then one MUST argue in favor of pricing transparency. Absolutely not. > A functioning free

> If one argues in favor of "free market" solutions for healthcare, then one MUST argue in favor of pricing transparency. Absolutely not. > A functioning free market requires the open and honest sharing of price information for consumers to make informed choices. A free market does not require any of this. In a free market the producer can do whatever they want, in a free market the consumer is free to choose different options if given producer does not adhere to their personal standards thus driving other providers to either change their behavior or just losing business. A free market does not require a government ruling them to adhere to some business practices. That is regulation and not a free market.

kyshoc 7y ago
> A free market does not require any of this. In theory, no, but in practice market failure is usually due to information asymmetry and consolidation. The real world is, unfortunately, not full of that economists call "perfect competitors". > in a free market the consumer is free to choose different options if given producer does not adhere to their personal standards This requires information symmetry -- per Wikipedia, a free market is "a system in which the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market". How can the this work if pricing information isn't available to one side of the market? > A free market does not require a government ruling them to adhere to some business practices Free markets in practice require legal guardrails around things such as information symmetry and anticompetitive behavior, in order to protect against market failure. Again, per Wikipedia: "[free markets] require a framework that allows new market entrants". This regulation is not for its own sake, but _to keep a market free (i.e., open to competition) by protecting it from the grasp of one extremely powerful entity going forward_.
- ameister14 7y ago
  Actually, in theory, yes. The theory of a free market definitely requires transparent pricing, amongst many other unlikely things.
ameister14 7y ago
You are incorrect. For a theoretical free market to exist, there must be perfect information. Otherwise, the optimal equilibrium points wouldn't be reached and so it would not be a free market, it would be a market failure.
inimino 7y ago
You have confused a free market with an unregulated market.

kyshoc 7y ago

> A free market does not require any of this. In theory, no, but in practice market failure is usually due to information asymmetry and consolidation. The real world is, unfortunately, not full of that economists call "perfect competitors". > in a free market the consumer is free to choose different options if given producer does not adhere to their personal standards This requires information symmetry -- per Wikipedia, a free market is "a system in which the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market". How can the this work if pricing information isn't available to one side of the market? > A free market does not require a government ruling them to adhere to some business practices Free markets in practice require legal guardrails around things such as information symmetry and anticompetitive behavior, in order to protect against market failure. Again, per Wikipedia: "[free markets] require a framework that allows new market entrants". This regulation is not for its own sake, but _to keep a market free (i.e., open to competition) by protecting it from the grasp of one extremely powerful entity going forward_.

ameister14 7y ago
Actually, in theory, yes. The theory of a free market definitely requires transparent pricing, amongst many other unlikely things.

ameister14 7y ago

You are incorrect. For a theoretical free market to exist, there must be perfect information. Otherwise, the optimal equilibrium points wouldn't be reached and so it would not be a free market, it would be a market failure.

inimino 7y ago

You have confused a free market with an unregulated market.