>> Fraud is not part of the market. >> Fred Foldvary --- Ron Baty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Fraud "should not" be part of the market but always has been and will > likely continue to be part of any realistic market
A pure market consists of voluntary economic acts, and theft, including fraud, has involuntary victims, so fraud is outside the pure free market. You are really saying that there will always be attacks on property rights; but these are violations of rather than "part of" a pure market. > In a "free market economy" how would you eliminate fraud without > limiting the free market or changing human nature? Of course no policy can "eliminate" fraud; rather, optimal policy seeks to minimize the net social cost of fraud. > And is it not the presence of "fraud", using a broad definition, that > enhances the effect of reputation in market exchanges. I don't see why that would be the case. Fred Foldvary
