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To: Don Lloyd who wrote (102263)	5/15/2001 5:30:53 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

Don, your belief that "There is also no reason why a free market cannot consist of a single seller and a single buyer" seems to run counter to the whole idea of a free market. If there is only one seller and no alternative seller, then I fail to see what difference it makes whether the buyer knows anything about the value of the goods or services for sale. The buyer will pay whatever the seller wants, or the transaction won't go through. The whole concept of a free market, at least in the economics textbooks I've read, requires numerous buyers and sellers. Without that, you have a monopoly. Conversely, if you have only one buyer, the same is true, as the seller is forced to meet the buyer's bid price, or the transaction doesn't take place. You can define a market however you wish, but the market I'm talking about is the one that all economists I know recognize as a free market. Art

To: Don Lloyd who wrote (102263)	5/15/2001 6:08:08 PM
From: yard_man	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

No, what he is trying to define is a competitive market -- the one he referenced (one buyer / one seller) was not a competitive market. A widget is a widget and you may reasonably do without if you don't want it, but a basic need is a basic need. Replace the widget with food and you see the problem, no? Of course, food is a competitive market and can't be so controlled. Electric energy is also considered by many to be a basic need ... but energy delivery requires very large capital expenditures -- duplicative facilities are not an option (too expensive for society as whole) because of the great capital investment (space, etc.) required for the delivery. Hence, the need for some form of regulation