From: C
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2018 10:44 AM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Re:
Walter,
BTW, there are lots of docs who are quintessential free marketers! Every Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and 1000s of others doing “elective” doctoring don’t (and can’t) use any forms of socialized medicine, insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, etc… Good businessmen docs of these sorts make $1M a year rather than a couple $100,000. Whatever the market can bear.
Dear C (this person is a faculty colleague of mine at Loyola University, not, of course, from the econ dept, perish the thought):
You and I have very different views of what constitutes free marketers. You seem to equate it with earning great wealth disreputably. The free enterprise sysem does indeed lead to general prosperity, but “rich” and “free market supporter” are not synonyms. Otherwise, “rich socialist” or “poor free marketer” would be a contradictions in terms, and they are not.
Don’t you charge for your property “whatever the market can bear?” If you sell your house or car, won’t you sell it to the highest bidder? Right now, you are a professor at Loyola University, earning $x per year. Suppose another university, in every other way similar to ours (colleagues, students, ease of commuting, prestige, etc.) offered you $x+y, where y is a significant positive number, wouldn’t you take it (I assume it would be costless to switch positions)? If so, you’re no better than any other “good businessman” who you revile. You might consider finding out what “free marketer” really means. I wouldn’t make an ignorant statement of this sort which involved your field. Lot’s of people say, “I’m not an economist, but…” and then proceed to expose their ignorance about my discipline. I strive mightily not to do so about yours or any other such specialty. If you’re open to studying the evils and inefficiencies of “socialized medicine, (govt!) insurance, Medicare, Medicaid” let me know and I’ll send you some readings on this and perhaps we can have lunch together to discuss this matter.
Best regards,
Walter
6:32 pm on July 30, 2018
