The Incentive Spectrum

Between the recent battle for Healthcare reforms and the upcoming battle regarding financial regulation reforms, there has been a great deal of back and forth about the private sector versus government regulated or government run industries.  The majority of this back and forth has been in the form of wild exaggerations, hyperbole, and name-calling from both sides of the issue.  Which is sad, because there is a legitimate debate to be had here regarding the pitfalls of the free market versus the inherent inefficiencies of government regulatory agencies and services.  Over the weekend, a former classmate of mine, Bill, and I had a bit of this debate.  

A mutual friend had shared a comment poking fun at those who protested the "socialism" of the Health Care Reform legislation, and Bill was compelled to point out some of the gross oversimplifications that had been imposed for the sake of comedy.  I objected to a premise or two—partly because I'm contrarian and partly because Bill and I had not seen or spoken to each other in years, and what better way to make friends than to disagree with them in a public format—and we went back and forth several times over the following 24 hours.  Bill has been kind enough to allow me to recreate that back-and-forth here, for your enjoyment, and so that we might continue our joust in a more formal setting.  

It's also worth pointing out that Bill and I likely agree on more than we disagree, this just happens to be a rather pivotal difference in perspective.  Also, Bill is a whole lot smarter than me.  

Click here to see all the gory details.