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A veterinarian cannot open a practice without doing a bunch of licensing and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in education. Meanwhile, the PA next to
by IG_Semmelweiss 4y ago
A veterinarian cannot open a practice without doing a bunch of licensing and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in education.
Meanwhile, the PA next to him has what it takes from years of training but she will never open a vet clinic of his/her own.
Thats not capitalism.
- shkkmo 4y agoThe solution to that is reforming the educational and licensing system, not putting finance people in charge.
- Avicebron 4y agowhat do you mean? That's exactly capitalism, it favors inequality heavily. The Vet made it to the top of the heap, and is now utilizing the PA as an exploitable workforce. Tech example, BigCo A gets first mover advantage, equally good BiggishCo B is a bit behind (for whatever reason), BigCo A leverages their position to prevent B from being able to compete long term - usually by acquisition, they work for us now.
- pclmulqdq 4y agoIt's not capitalism because a licensing cartel artificially keeps the supply of vets low by keeping out qualified PAs and nurses who could handle easy cases.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- WaxProlix 4y agoIt's exactly capitalism because concentrations of capital form and end up with a critical mass that controls various aspects of society - in this case licensing. It's also something that's literally happening under capitalism, right now, in very capitalist America.
- danuker 4y agoWhile I give your argument some merit, i.e. nobody should be able to corner a market, in this case a different concentration of capital keeps the supply low: the Big Higher Ed one, as opposed to Big Vet.
- astrange 4y agoIt’s a modern mixed economy. Full capitalism was the previous stage, when unlicensed doctors traveled around selling people radium cures. It’s actually very surprising we trust doctors so much (have inelastic demand for them) because for most of history doctors were more likely to kill you than not.
- shakes_mcjunkie 4y agoLicensing can be used to monopolize markets and consolidate private ownership. Licensing isn't inherently bad but it can be used in a capitalist system to increase profits and drive out competition.
- Jarwain 4y agoIt's not capitalism the same way soviet Russia wasn't communism
- pc86 4y agoCapitalism doesn't become "not capitalism" because practitioners need to be licensed and public safety and/or public opinion demands regulations be put in place.
- Natsu 4y agoIf someone recommends "don't do that" and you do that anyway, you can't reasonably blame their advice for being wrong because things went wrong when you did the thing anyway and then justify it with "well, sometimes people don't listen to your advice, so clearly it's not good enough, we really need to do more of the thing you advised against to fix this."
- pc86 4y agoAre you saying that capitalism means completely open, zero regulation, zero licensure markets? Because it absolutely does not. It means (among other things) a competitive market with minimal information asymmetries between producer and consumer. Regulation can at time help this, e.g. requiring information disclosure, or preventing monopolistic practices. Just because a lot of regulations are bad (or enforced poorly) and some licenses are onerous does not mean "regulation === bad" or "licensure === bad."
- ROTMetro 4y agoIf your intent is to capture the market so that you can set the price, that is not capitalism. If licenses are limited, then the amount any one business can own should be limited. Having the ability and using it to artificially limit competition is called a cartel and should be illegal in the USA. An artificial limit on the amount of competition allowed <> capitalism. See taxi medallions. Another example for a long time would have been FAA approval of new aircraft type certificates and the requirements creating a huge barrier for entry to get them that artificially prevented competition.
- Natsu 4y agoYou're arguing against an extreme position I have not advocated for. But when bad regulations cause bad outcomes, it's pretty weird to focus the blame on the people warning that bad regulations can cause bad outcomes instead of how the regulations are flawed and whether they can be fixed.
- guelo 4y agoNo idea how an increased number of vets would prevent capital from consolidating this industry.
- astrange 4y agoYou can’t have a monopoly in an industry with no barriers to entry. Cartels aren’t stable because every newcomer has an incentive to defect.
- verve_rat 4y agoIt costs more than zero dollars to set up a new vet clinic. I'd bet a bunch of the shit they need is really expensive.
- pclmulqdq 4y agoCapital alone can't maintain a cartel. Investors can partner with doctors to set up a new vet clinic to help break the cartel, and there are significant rewards for both. In turn, the competition lowers prices across the board. Cartels are essentially a prisoner's dilemma without rules (like licensure) enforcing them.
- stefan_ 4y agoYou have just realized that most actors in capitalism prefer to the rig the game rather than compete.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mschuster91 4y agoInterestingly enough, a couple of states allow interested people to become lawyers by apprenticeship instead of the university route. Wonder if that would ever be feasible for veterinarians.
- tonguez 4y ago
- wolverine876 4y agoIt's a fantasy of libertarians, etc., but I think it is exceedingly rare for someone to have a serious career as a lawyer without a law degree.
- djmips 4y agoPeople seem to think capitalism == meritocracy.