4 ms·

> the patient doesn't have enough information or knowledge You don't need one, all you need is brand and reputation. Customer doesn't know much about products

> the patient doesn't have enough information or knowledge You don't need one, all you need is brand and reputation. Customer doesn't know much about products in most markets: electronics, cars, software. It's never a problem when you have lasting brands/companies servicing many people with various level of knowledge.

tonyedgecombe 7y ago
It's not working that well in software, one company has 90% of the desktop market. Phone operating systems are divided between two companies. The car industry is being dragged screaming and kicking into EV's. And these are industries where it's reasonably easy to pick and choose compared to trying to switch hospitals or doctors part way through your treatment.
- ernst_klim 7y ago
  > It's not working that well in software, one company has 90% of the desktop market. Because the company uses quite a lot of administrative pressure (patent trolling, vendor's bullying etc etc), hence the market is not competitive. You are talking about competitive markets here, not information asymmetry. I see no evidence that monopolies are the outcome of asymmetry of knowledge, but rather that they are the outcomes of significant administrative measures like license-bullying or patent-trolling. The only markets that have the problem of information asymmetry are lemon markets. > And these are industries where it's reasonably easy to pick and choose compared to trying to switch hospitals or doctors part way through your treatment. It's way easier to change a doctor than to change a car. There are only few conditions which restrain one from bargaining: heart attacks and other severe conditions, and these should be treated differently. But in case of the vast majority of diseases from common cold to Epstein-Barr changing the doctor and bargaining is even simpler than in most other markets. But again, bargaining power has nothing to do with information asymmetry as well.
  - tonyedgecombe 7y ago
    Because the company uses quite a lot of administrative pressure (patent trolling, vendor's bullying etc etc), hence the market is not competitive. and you think that won't happen with health care?
    - ernst_klim 7y ago
      > and you think that won't happen with health care? It could happen, but it's totally unrelated to the original thesis regarding information asymmetry.
      - tonyedgecombe 7y ago
        It is related, it is part of the obfuscation that corporations engage in to gain an advantage. There are some things that work really well in a free market but health care will never be of those.

tonyedgecombe 7y ago

It's not working that well in software, one company has 90% of the desktop market. Phone operating systems are divided between two companies. The car industry is being dragged screaming and kicking into EV's. And these are industries where it's reasonably easy to pick and choose compared to trying to switch hospitals or doctors part way through your treatment.

ernst_klim 7y ago
> It's not working that well in software, one company has 90% of the desktop market. Because the company uses quite a lot of administrative pressure (patent trolling, vendor's bullying etc etc), hence the market is not competitive. You are talking about competitive markets here, not information asymmetry. I see no evidence that monopolies are the outcome of asymmetry of knowledge, but rather that they are the outcomes of significant administrative measures like license-bullying or patent-trolling. The only markets that have the problem of information asymmetry are lemon markets. > And these are industries where it's reasonably easy to pick and choose compared to trying to switch hospitals or doctors part way through your treatment. It's way easier to change a doctor than to change a car. There are only few conditions which restrain one from bargaining: heart attacks and other severe conditions, and these should be treated differently. But in case of the vast majority of diseases from common cold to Epstein-Barr changing the doctor and bargaining is even simpler than in most other markets. But again, bargaining power has nothing to do with information asymmetry as well.
- tonyedgecombe 7y ago
  Because the company uses quite a lot of administrative pressure (patent trolling, vendor's bullying etc etc), hence the market is not competitive. and you think that won't happen with health care?
  - ernst_klim 7y ago
    > and you think that won't happen with health care? It could happen, but it's totally unrelated to the original thesis regarding information asymmetry.
    - tonyedgecombe 7y ago
      It is related, it is part of the obfuscation that corporations engage in to gain an advantage. There are some things that work really well in a free market but health care will never be of those.