Re: OT: Re: Scientific American Article On "Market" Economists

On Apr 8, 9:13 am, ZerkonX <Z...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> ...The question seems interesting until one really gets down to a
> serious answer. We DO enter the area of contractual law and the meaning
> of words becomes im****tant and things are not self-evident.

Absolutely - and the specific question you raise is at the heart of
the debate about anti-trust law, a subject about which economists
disagree.

The answer I will offer - of laissez-faire capitalists - is
controversial and even otherwise generally pro-free market economists
will disagree.

> For instance, 'Free XXX' is not self-evident. Is there free trade when
> what is traded is a necessity of life and is being sold by only one
> concern?

Yes, so long as competition is open and possible, i.e. is not
prohibited or restrained by law. Also, keep in mind that every product
has substitutes or alternatives. If they are not currently available,
but if the market is offering the incentive, they will be found. The
continued progress of technology is a testament to that.

This is just one example I had never heard of before but which I found
truly remarkable.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/11/underwater_lumberjacks.php

Fred Weiss