No Free Lunch: Economics for a Fallen World: Third Edition, Revised

Chapter Five: Supply & Demand: Markets at Work 109 occupational safety and health laws, etc., which Congress has grudgingly passed because of the pressure from unions and their workers.” -Blaming the Workers You can (and should) do your own search to verify my assertion (be a Berean!). BE A BEREAN! Being a Berean is a reference to Acts 17:10-11 . The Bereans both eagerly received the truth of God, and (critically important) searched the scriptures daily to see if it was true. Or in the words of Ronald Reagan, trust but verify! If our previous assertion that buyers compete against buyers and sellers compete against sellers is true, can this common labor criticism be accurate? Or is the buyer vs. buyer only an idealism that falls down in the real world? In chapter 8 there will be more to say when we study monopoly power, but for now let’s consider the implications if our assertion is not true. Let’s say I was the only person allowed to bid on eBay. Sellers are free to set whatever price they want, but they can only sell to me. Will I be able to exploit them? Well, that in part will depend on their need to sell. If they are hungry with no other source of income, and they can only sell to me, they are pretty much at my mercy. That is exactly the union view of the world. Workers have little negotiating power—they need to eat; management can wait them out—and there is not effective competition for the workers (few jobs and/ or possible collusion among differing companies’ managements). If the seller on eBay does not have to sell, I cannot exploit him. MARKETS ARE NEITHER MORAL NOR IMMORAL! 12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” -Matthew 21 So Jesus is against markets? Maybe…maybe not. For another scriptural example, review the Proverbs 31:10-31 woman. She is commended for her hard work and industriousness. She considers a field, buys it, plants a vineyard, and makes sure her merchandise is profitable. With the profits, she helps her family and the needy.