Well, well. Another liberal who doesn’t understand supply and demand.
Let the number of doctors float and soon we’d have as many clinics as quick lube shops. 2-for-1 special on bloodwork every Tuesday.
I’m optimistic - this healthcare bubble will pop, too.
Exactly. It is a matter of capital. Think of doctors as if they were machines. You gotta pay to maintain them, and profit off the return. The greater the profit, the more you have to form new capital. Should you suddenly stop investing in machinery you won’t buy new ones and the ones you have start to break down.
This was observed, and spectacularly so, in the totalitarian regimes of the previous century. They had the vampire economies, not the Romneys of the world. Supposed miracles of production soared by mortgaging whatever savings had been built up under earlier regimes.
Labor works the same way when high skill and extended education is involved. Doctors are expensive machines to acquire and maintain, and should there be limited prospects for remuneration less will choose to work in the field.