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Prices being known ahead of time is not an inherent property of a free market. Fair billing is not an inherent property of a free market.
by jniedrauer 7y ago
Prices being known ahead of time is not an inherent property of a free market. Fair billing is not an inherent property of a free market.
- ZhuanXia 7y agoThe "free market" doesn't really exist. It is an ideal, and an ill defined one at best. What does exists are mechanisms. A law that forces prices to be visible is a mechanism that is likely to increase economic efficiency at little cost. In absence of a rent-seeking doctor's guild, it would not be needed, true, but it is certainly better than nothing.
- 333c 7y agoIn fact, full availability of information (including price and quality) is a key feature of a free market, at least as defined in my ECON 101 class.
- nostrademons 7y agoIt's generally called a "racket" rather than a "free market" in the absence of pricing information, free choice, and fair billing.
- standardUser 7y agoWithout accurate an available information, there is no free market. Just lots of betting. "I'm going to buy this great new car. I wonder if it will cost me $15k or $45k? Can't wait to find out!" Said no market participant ever.
- colejohnson66 7y agoIt’s more like: you get in a car accident and the mechanic forces you to get a new car. The only thing is: you won’t know the price of the car until you receive the dozens of bills for the different steps of manufacturing (one for the steel press factory, one for the leather factory, one for the aluminum factory, one for the person who put it together, one for the factory it was assembled in, etc.) You also can’t find the price of this new car online and the mechanic won’t (or sometimes can’t) tell you.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]