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No. For the market to work, substitute goods would need to have transparent pricing so the customer can choose with price in mind. Most ultrasounds — indeed, mo
by wrs 7y ago
No. For the market to work, substitute goods would need to have transparent pricing so the customer can choose with price in mind. Most ultrasounds — indeed, most entire hospitals — are pretty close to identical goods. Everyone will die without food, but supermarkets don't take advantage of that fact to mark up food by 500%.
- minikites 7y agoIt's easy to evaluate the quality of an apple and there are dozens of substitute goods (other fruit). It's not easy to evaluate the quality of an ultrasound machine, the staff required to operate it, and their interpretation of the results. Depending on the medical issue, there may not be a substitute good (procedure). Medicine does not work with market principles.
- wrs 7y agoI disagree, I would think that imaging centers produce comparable results. On the medical side, the substitute good isn't a different procedure, it's the same procedure done by a different provider. Most people do not currently make any of those evaluations anyway, so as far as the consumer is concerned, they are de facto substitute goods since they have no rationale for making a choice.