Free-Market Flaws
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In an interview [Outlook, Oct. 4] Peter Schiff ducked the issue on health care. He implied that if the health-care industry had a truly free market, as exists for Lasik eye surgery, then costs would fall across the board. He failed to address the fact that a prerequisite for a free market is the consumer's ability to say, "No, I won't buy that."
Lasik is unnecessary -- it is nothing more than cosmetic surgery -- and consumers are free to decline if the price or conditions warrant. The same is not true for dialysis, or setting a broken bone, or many other medical procedures. If you can't say no, you're not in a free market. And if it is not a free market, then free market orthodoxy won't fix it.
NEIL BILLINGS
Fairfax
