OFF: consumer economics (was: Hawkwind MP3's)

[M Holmes]

Paul Mather writes:

> On Tue, Apr 08, 2003 at 01:48:06PM +0100, M Holmes wrote:

> >> nickmedford at HOTMAIL.COM writes:

> >> > Are you suggesting that if people in the UK had to pay for (say)
> >> > coronary artery bypass grafts, then fewer British people would
> >> > require them?

> >> Exactly so.  If people don't have to pay for healthcare then at the
> >> margin they will be less careful of their health.  It's all about
> >> incentives.

> You mean like the incentive of not spending time in a hospital under
> potentially dangerous surgery

Yep, add paying for it and most people would see it as a further
disincentive.

> Aside from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, do you know of
> many people who LIKE to spend their time as patients in a hospital?
> :-)

The homeless?

> If I had free dental care, I doubt that would make me take less care
> of my teeth just so I could partake of the dubious pleasure of
> multiple free root canal procedures...

Perhaps not, but you not be the person on the margin.

FoFP