--- john hull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In the Road to Serfdom, Hayek takes great pains to > distinguish between free vs. competitive markets. The > first are considered to be very contrary to, let's > say, American values, while the latter are considered > to be in line with said values.
The latter are not all in line with American values. The US postal service is non-comepetitive for first class mail, and evidently the median voter wants it that way. Another example is education. The popular opposition to vouchers implies that competition in education is not an American value. > Will the advocates of the > "free" market ... rectify their conception of the free > market with the competitive market so that it doesn't > offend "The Road To Serfdom." Some of the confusion comes from the meanings of "competition". There are TWO meanings. 1. Rivalry. 2. An absence of market power. The free market has #1 competition, but with some industries not having much of #2 competition. So long as the market is truly free, it is competitive #1, so the presence of market power in some industries does not harm the public or require intervention. Hayek and Friedman are thus reconciled. Fred Foldvary ===== [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com
