> Knowing whether a good is rival or not tells you whether you want to use the market (if I were a good economist that would possibly be capital-M Market ;-) to allocate access to that good. If it's rival, then the market is an efficient way of allocating the good;
But something like medicine is clearly a rival good, and yet some people have greater need than others.
Absolutely. The market is efficient - but we don't necessarily want efficiency, sometimes we want humanity instead.
I, personally, think that markets are good for things that are not natural monopolies, and are luxuries. When things are necessities then we need state-run ways of making sure that people get what they need and aren't taken advantage of.
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andrewducker) wrote2010-04-16 12:00 pm
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But something like medicine is clearly a rival good, and yet some people have greater need than others.
no subject
I, personally, think that markets are good for things that are not natural monopolies, and are luxuries. When things are necessities then we need state-run ways of making sure that people get what they need and aren't taken advantage of.