How Big Dental Money Campaign Contributions / Lobbying Hurt The Economy And Consumers

[PoliTalker]

"The primary way that campaign contributions and lobbying may dampen economic growth is via a practice known as rent-seeking—the process of seeking income through special government favors rather than through productive economic activity. When firms and individuals engage in rent-seeking behavior, it has several negative effects on economic growth. Not only do people spend more time and money trying to get a bigger piece of the economic pie for themselves rather than trying to enlarge the pie, but the policies they seek are often wasteful, inefficient, or even harmful. If rent-seeking is a successful strategy for businesses or individuals, it can impose great harm on society by slowing or even stopping economic growth. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz explains, rent-seeking not only wastes tax dollars on unnecessary or inefficient projects—redistributing money from one part of society to the rent-seekers—but it is a “centripetal force” that hollows out the economy because “the rewards of rent seeking become so outsize that more and more energy is directed toward it, at the expense of everything else.”"

Center for American Progress

One would think that the people who clean teeth could simply set up a shop and provide the service they are properly trained to do. That would allow for American Entrepreneurship at it's finest. The free market at work. Since all that would be needed would be a strip mall space and a few chairs, overhead could be quite low. No, they are not going to be practicing dentistry, just cleaning teeth. These shops could be properly inspected and regulated and very convenient, perhaps as proliferous and competitive as vape shops and hair/nails salons.

But no. We don't see that. Dental hygienists work for a dentist, and since a dentist has such a high overhead to run an office, the fee to get teeth cleaned becomes pretty high. Since not all Americans have dental coverage which might pay for this, the high cost of going to the dentist causes many Americans to simply forego this important health habit. I once asked my hygienist who was facing an unwanted layoff because she was getting old and about to be age-discriminated out of work, why she didn't consider just opening up a teeth-cleaning shop? She explained that she wasn't allowed to do that under the law. She said it would be considered 'practicing medicine without a license.'

I said you've got to be kidding. You're cleaning teeth, not practicing medicine. Nope. She was dead serious. It seems the dentists have gotten organized and used some of the big money they charge customers to create bogus definitions under the law in order to prevent more affordable competition. The professional organizations they join have gathered lots of big money and lobbied for stringent regulations that protect their market and their high prices, not consumers.

And ya know what the real result of that is?

A lot of people just don't go to the dentist.

What a stupid greedy idea.

"Moreover, studies find that businesses with the most to gain from favorable public policy engage in the most political activity."

"The major economic concerns of rent-seeking can be categorized into three types of inefficiencies:

1. Resources are wasted engaging in rent-seeking.
2. Policies sought by rent-seeking result in an inefficient use of resources.
3. Rent-seeking policies may prove so destructive that they cause resources to sit idle."

Check all three boxes in the case of this absurd teeth-cleaning regulation. The next time I visited my dentist, that hygienist was replaced with a very young recruit, right out of school who was probably paid less than the experienced person who was no longer there.

"Economic growth depends upon an efficient use of resources. As this brief has outlined, however, rent-seeking is inherently inefficient because it diverts resources from potentially more-productive activities and thus imposes significant economic costs."

We need to put an end to dumb stuff like that. Many thought Trump was the man to do this. Nope. He's a conman. He's in the bag for the rich and greedy power junkies. He's one of THEM.

There are parts of our economy that do need to be opened up to a more free market. That's my liberal view.

"Even worse, the economic costs of rent-seeking are likely to grow in the future. With the barriers that limit money in politics falling in the courts, it should be expected that even more money will be directed toward rent-seeking activities in the future."

[PoliTalker]

Imagine if there was a law that required all car washing to be performed at a mechanic's facility. The people who wash cars would not be able to offer simple car washing on their own. That would be against the law. They would be charged with repairing vehicles without a license. Car washers would all have to seek jobs at mechanic's facilities.

Mechanics could ban together, form a professional organization, charge you more, pay for lobbyists, get this law passed. They would argue that there might be something unsafe about cars and this would give them an opportunity to look the cars over and make sure they are safe to drive. They could also argue that self-serve spray car washes were not safe because the cars would not be getting looked at by professionals. They, too, should be disallowed. People would either have to wash their own cars (discouraged in a PR campaign,) or have no choice but to bring them to the mechanic and pay whatever cost charged to have clean cars. With all that overhead and professional training to pay for, the price of a car wash could easily double or triple.

It wouldn't be hard to guess that we would see a lot more dirty cars on the road.

Well, it might seem ridiculous to imagine such a thing could happen. Mechanics are not that tightly bonded to one another. They are kind of independent. This kind of rent-seeking probably won't happen. They're not like dentists. Dentists already have the organization and such a system in place. Nobody even questions it.

Well, almost nobody.

Nobody except me.

I am saying BS.

What kind of free market is this? Good workers, forced to work for the powerful. Unable to put up a shingle and start a business of their own. Because big money prevails. And it is so pernicious in our culture that we don't even question it. Everybody just accepts that's they way it should be.

But should it?

Really?

Is our current system really serving the public well?

I don't think so.

[Buck Tucker]

"The primary way that campaign contributions and lobbying may dampen economic growth is via a practice known as rent-seeking—the process of seeking income through special government favors rather than through productive economic activity. When firms and individuals engage in rent-seeking behavior, it has several negative effects on economic growth. Not only do people spend more time and money trying to get a bigger piece of the economic pie for themselves rather than trying to enlarge the pie, but the policies they seek are often wasteful, inefficient, or even harmful. If rent-seeking is a successful strategy for businesses or individuals, it can impose great harm on society by slowing or even stopping economic growth. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz explains, rent-seeking not only wastes tax dollars on unnecessary or inefficient projects—redistributing money from one part of society to the rent-seekers—but it is a “centripetal force” that hollows out the economy because “the rewards of rent seeking become so outsize that more and more energy is directed toward it, at the expense of everything else.”"

Center for American Progress

One would think that the people who clean teeth could simply set up a shop and provide the service they are properly trained to do. That would allow for American Entrepreneurship at it's finest. The free market at work. Since all that would be needed would be a strip mall space and a few chairs, overhead could be quite low. No, they are not going to be practicing dentistry, just cleaning teeth. These shops could be properly inspected and regulated and very convenient, perhaps as proliferous and competitive as vape shops and hair/nails salons.

But no. We don't see that. Dental hygienists work for a dentist, and since a dentist has such a high overhead to run an office, the fee to get teeth cleaned becomes pretty high. Since not all Americans have dental coverage which might pay for this, the high cost of going to the dentist causes many Americans to simply forego this important health habit. I once asked my hygienist who was facing an unwanted layoff because she was getting old and about to be age-discriminated out of work, why she didn't consider just opening up a teeth-cleaning shop? She explained that she wasn't allowed to do that under the law. She said it would be considered 'practicing medicine without a license.'

I said you've got to be kidding. You're cleaning teeth, not practicing medicine. Nope. She was dead serious. It seems the dentists have gotten organized and used some of the big money they charge customers to create bogus definitions under the law in order to prevent more affordable competition. The professional organizations they join have gathered lots of big money and lobbied for stringent regulations that protect their market and their high prices, not consumers.

And ya know what the real result of that is?

A lot of people just don't go to the dentist.

What a stupid greedy idea.

"Moreover, studies find that businesses with the most to gain from favorable public policy engage in the most political activity."

"The major economic concerns of rent-seeking can be categorized into three types of inefficiencies:

1. Resources are wasted engaging in rent-seeking.
2. Policies sought by rent-seeking result in an inefficient use of resources.
3. Rent-seeking policies may prove so destructive that they cause resources to sit idle."

Check all three boxes in the case of this absurd teeth-cleaning regulation. The next time I visited my dentist, that hygienist was replaced with a very young recruit, right out of school who was probably paid less than the experienced person who was no longer there.

"Economic growth depends upon an efficient use of resources. As this brief has outlined, however, rent-seeking is inherently inefficient because it diverts resources from potentially more-productive activities and thus imposes significant economic costs."

We need to put an end to dumb stuff like that. Many thought Trump was the man to do this. Nope. He's a conman. He's in the bag for the rich and greedy power junkies. He's one of THEM.

There are parts of our economy that do need to be opened up to a more free market. That's my liberal view.

"Even worse, the economic costs of rent-seeking are likely to grow in the future. With the barriers that limit money in politics falling in the courts, it should be expected that even more money will be directed toward rent-seeking activities in the future."

CUT AND PASTE ALERT!!

[PoliTalker]

Sister thread:

Reasons For The High Cost Of Healthcare: Money, And The Big Business Of Being Born

[PoliTalker]

Dentists and OB-GYNs are rent-seekers.

They have effectively used the government to prevent competition.

They are anti free market.

[Gonzomin]

The durable goods manufacturers use lobbying and donations to fleece the customer base too. Our equipment is way, way overpriced. They keep it that way by buying politicians and lobbying the rest. This is our system. We have to ban lobbying. It just helps the wealthy and corporations.

[Celticguy]

The durable goods manufacturers use lobbying and donations to fleece the customer base too. Our equipment is way, way overpriced. They keep it that way by buying politicians and lobbying the rest. This is our system. We have to ban lobbying. It just helps the wealthy and corporations.

And why is it over priced ? Specifically? ( im not suggesting that it is not so, just looking at why.)

[Gonzomin]

And why is it over priced ? Specifically? ( im not suggesting that it is not so, just looking at why.)

Because they own the politicians and work with almost no regulation and oversight. Check the wheelchair prices. Medicare covers 80 percent. That keep users from bitching too much. I saw hearings about durable goods in the house, and the politicians just caved.Money doesn't talk it swears.

[Celticguy]

Because they own the politicians and work with almost no regulation and oversight. Check the wheelchair prices. Medicare covers 80 percent. That keep users from bitching too much. I saw hearings about durable goods in the house, and the politicians just caved.Money doesn't talk it swears.

Medicare is 100% totally regulated.
But you're getting close.

[Gonzomin]

Medicare is 100% totally regulated.
But you're getting close.

It is owned by the same lobbyists. Durable goods are one of the worst money grubbers. https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare...ent_fraud.html It is a hotbed of fraud that congress has allowed. They give huge donations and have enormous lobbying power. They spend 33 million a year in lobbying.

[PoliTalker]

Hello Celticguy,

And why is it over priced ? Specifically? ( im not suggesting that it is not so, just looking at why.)

Typically it is the same reason conservatives hate the government. They think the government hinders business and blithely applies overwhelming constraints on doing business in the form of bogus regulations.

The reality is that big business interests force these requirements through rent-seeking in order to drive smaller competitors out of the market.

The disdain conservatives have for government is misdirected.

It should actually be leveled at big business and the legalized corruption of rent-seeking.

They use their funds not to improve their business and expand the pie, but to cut out competition and carve a larger piece of the existing pie for themselves.

And the real shame is that consumers pay for this in the form of higher prices.

[Celticguy]

Hello Celticguy,



Typically it is the same reason conservatives hate the government. They think the government hinders business and blithely applies overwhelming constraints on doing business in the form of bogus regulations.

The reality is that big business interests force these requirements through rent-seeking in order to drive smaller competitors out of the market.

The disdain conservatives have for government is misdirected.

It should actually be leveled at big business and the legalized corruption of rent-seeking.

They use their funds not to improve their business and expand the pie, but to cut out competition and carve a larger piece of the existing pie for themselves.

And the real shame is that consumers pay for this in the form of higher prices.

I had requested specifics.

[Gonzomin]

I had a sore knee that bothered me when I play racketball. I asked my doc for a recommendation about a knee brace. He sent me to a medicare provider. They suggested both knees with fancy metal braces that had a cost of 900 bucks. I walked out and bought a couple at the drug store for 30 bucks.

[anonymoose]

I had a sore knee that bothered me when I play racketball. I asked my doc for a recommendation about a knee brace. He sent me to a medicare provider. They suggested both knees with fancy metal braces that had a cost of 900 bucks. I walked out and bought a couple at the drug store for 30 bucks.

That's what I woulda done in the first place.

[Gonzomin]

That's what I woulda done in the first place.

Aren't you special? I wanted to see what was available. This was a chance to see what technology had developed.