5 ms·

Do you have sources for this? I see this claim a lot on HN.

chimi 7y ago
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/thanks-to-doctors-there-arent-enough-doctors https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/thanks-to-doctors-there-a... I also like this 45 minute lecture Milton Friedman gave to physicians telling them how they were making healthcare worse due to this type of lobbying by their representatives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWlk9HreE7U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWlk9HreE7U
- yourbandsucks 7y ago
  Shouldn't Milton Friedman be complimenting them for pursuing their narrow interests and having faith that it will contribute to the optimal free market outcome? When someone doesn't even buy their own brand..
  - chimi 7y ago
    He stays quite true to his brand in the video when he chastises them with a list of the many things they have done to destroy the free market in healthcare.
    - yourbandsucks 7y ago
      What a fragile free market. You're telling me that the free market requires willing selflessness of players to function? That sounds more like the ghost of Christmas than the invisible hand to me..
      - flyingfences 7y ago
        No, a free market expects selfish players to function. The adjective "free", however, means an absence of a government that can be lobbied to restrict the market.
        yourbandsucks 7y ago
        Did you just predicate your argument on the absence of government?
        flyingfences 7y ago
        That's the definition of "free market" - free from government interference. You can't call something a "fragile free market" if the market is not free.
  - refurb 7y ago
    When the system becomes so unworkable that the govt steps in and starts creating unfavorable rules for doctors, they were actually working against their own best interests.
    - yourbandsucks 7y ago
      So self interest isn't infallible, is what you're saying? There are coordination problems and externalities? Next you'll be telling me that money isn't speech and maybe we shouldn't let establishment players capture the government.
- coolgeek 7y ago
  Your source is an opinion article in an outlet deemed right-biased and of mixed factual reporting. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/ "In the early 1900s, the AMA lobbied lawmakers to shut down many medical schools." That's over 100 years ago. No information is provided as to which schools, or what the AMA's reasoning was behind their decision. Likewise, lobbying to reduce residencies occurred over 20 years ago. The actual reductions were implemented by a Republican Congress and the Clinton administration. "At the time, they argued there was an impending 'glut' of physicians. It is more likely they were, again, trying to protect their high wages." Needless to say, that latter assertion is not in any way supported by documentation.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/thanks-to-doctors-there-arent-enough-doctors https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/thanks-to-doctors-there-a... I also like this 45 minute lecture Milton Friedman gave to physicians telling them how they were making healthcare worse due to this type of lobbying by their representatives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWlk9HreE7U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWlk9HreE7U

yourbandsucks 7y ago
Shouldn't Milton Friedman be complimenting them for pursuing their narrow interests and having faith that it will contribute to the optimal free market outcome? When someone doesn't even buy their own brand..
- chimi 7y ago
  He stays quite true to his brand in the video when he chastises them with a list of the many things they have done to destroy the free market in healthcare.
  - yourbandsucks 7y ago
    What a fragile free market. You're telling me that the free market requires willing selflessness of players to function? That sounds more like the ghost of Christmas than the invisible hand to me..
    - flyingfences 7y ago
      No, a free market expects selfish players to function. The adjective "free", however, means an absence of a government that can be lobbied to restrict the market.
      - yourbandsucks 7y ago
        Did you just predicate your argument on the absence of government?
        flyingfences 7y ago
        That's the definition of "free market" - free from government interference. You can't call something a "fragile free market" if the market is not free.
- refurb 7y ago
  When the system becomes so unworkable that the govt steps in and starts creating unfavorable rules for doctors, they were actually working against their own best interests.
  - yourbandsucks 7y ago
    So self interest isn't infallible, is what you're saying? There are coordination problems and externalities? Next you'll be telling me that money isn't speech and maybe we shouldn't let establishment players capture the government.
coolgeek 7y ago
Your source is an opinion article in an outlet deemed right-biased and of mixed factual reporting. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/washington-examiner/ "In the early 1900s, the AMA lobbied lawmakers to shut down many medical schools." That's over 100 years ago. No information is provided as to which schools, or what the AMA's reasoning was behind their decision. Likewise, lobbying to reduce residencies occurred over 20 years ago. The actual reductions were implemented by a Republican Congress and the Clinton administration. "At the time, they argued there was an impending 'glut' of physicians. It is more likely they were, again, trying to protect their high wages." Needless to say, that latter assertion is not in any way supported by documentation.