The issue, as with health care, is that this is a market the consumer cannot choose to exit. I can't decide to not live somewhere, just as I can't decide not to have an appendectomy. I can decide not to have a tablet or a car or a bike or an espresso machine, so markets work well. But if you must participate in a market, it changes the dynamics to the detriment of consumers.
I love free markets but they don't exist without laws and regulations, and those laws and regulations must match what is being sold.
I mean think about it, people can't get housing in cities without paying a ridiculous multiple of the costs to create that housing. It's like if restaurants cost 10x or more than the cost of goods for meals. I can make my own steak dinner for like $50 in components, but if I want to eat out at a nice place, even 3x is extreme, and really nice. This is like if all restaurants, even cheap ones, were $500+. It's insane.
I love free markets but they don't exist without laws and regulations, and those laws and regulations must match what is being sold.
I mean think about it, people can't get housing in cities without paying a ridiculous multiple of the costs to create that housing. It's like if restaurants cost 10x or more than the cost of goods for meals. I can make my own steak dinner for like $50 in components, but if I want to eat out at a nice place, even 3x is extreme, and really nice. This is like if all restaurants, even cheap ones, were $500+. It's insane.