Re: government, markets, and material well-being

[Alan G Isaac <aisaac@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 26 Aug 2002 11:54:16 -0400 "Henry C.K. Liu" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> That is what you get with a market economy.  If blood is
> not bought and sold like a commodity, aids in China would
> be uncontrol.  Also, if the Chinese government were to
> free itself from US neo-liberals, the Chinese people would
> be better off.


Henry,

That is precisely a conclusion that cannot be drawn of
course, if one bothers to read the article.  From the
article one learns about government involvement in the blood
collection stations, false government claims about the
safety of blood collection, and government efforts to seal
off the flow of information that is crucial to dealing with
the epidemic now that it exists.

Only the naive and the disingenuous emphasize market failure
and fail to discuss government failure.

As for the general question about the desirability of the
commodification of blood collection---which is quite
separate from issues of reliance on markets, although you
seem to wish to conflate them---I have not taken that up.
If you really want to think about it consider Richard
Titmuss's famous study.  I actually believe you will find
it congenial.

Finally, as for the role of neoliberalism in China, you have
your own strange story but most analysts accept that the
death of Mao and the market oriented reforms of Deng
Xiaoping brought great blessings for the Chinese people.
Of course these benefits have not been spread evenly, but
can we please remember that 10%/year growth causes doubling
every seven years!

Alan