Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.comment From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: If you think you shop freely, think again Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 16:20:05 EST Message-ID: Lines: 67 \SE G;COMMENTARY;EDITORIAL;LETTERS \HD If you think you shop freely, think again I was struck today by the (presumably unintended) irony of the cartoon appearing on Page F3 of your Nov. 10 Commentary section. By ways of advocating "school choice" (i.e., government subsidies for private eduction), the cartoonist showed where Americans supposedly go "to get vital necessities for our children: food (competitive marketplace); medicine (competitive marketplace); clothing (competitive marketplace); shelter (competitive marketplace); education (government schools)." If the cartoonist thinks this is an accurate picture of the American economy, he is very much mistaken. Many of the common elements of American nutrition come not from a competitive marketplace but one that is skewed by and extensive and long-standing system of agricultural subsidies, price supports, protective tariffs and similar mechanisms. The price of medical services is affected by the presence of the government in the market (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) and by the tension between generally accepted standards of practice (enforced by malpractice lawyers, among others) and the pressures brought by private insurers to limit the scope and cost of services rendered. The cost of medication is affected by a far-reaching regulatory scheme that governs the manufacture, testing and sale of drugs. The cost of virtually all transportation is heavily dependent on government regulation. Most common carriers (such as airlines, taxicabs and bus lines) are regulated in the fares they charge, the terms and conditions of carriage and in some cases the routes they take and the locales they serve; some (e.g., Amtrak) are even owned by the government. The cost of private vehicles is also affected by government intervention, albeit less extensively (e.g., taxes and tariffs on imported vehicles). The cost of shelter is profoundly subsidized by tax deductions for mortgage interest payments, VA and FHA mortgage insurance, government regulation of lending institutions, tax incentives for construction of single or multifamily housing, and so forth. The market for clothing may be more competitive, but I suspect you will find that there are government-imposed financial incentives discriminating between foreign and domestic goods, and among goods made of various materials. Just as cost affects the ability of some to choose freely among more or less expensive products or services, so does cost affect the decision whether to send a child to a public or private school. The government provides schools for those who are unwilling or unable to bear the cost of private education. It is unreasonable - and unfair to the taxpayer - to expect government to do more. It is certainly unfair to government, and dishonest as well, to suggest the the American commercial marketplace is truly "competitive" or free from government intervention by contrast to our educational system. GREGG H. S. GOLDEN Washington This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM