Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kidney Transplants
Two prominent hospitals recently refused patients for kidney transplants because
the organs were from “directed donations.”
•The kidneys were meant for specific people
Demand for organs is high –far exceeding supply –
and many never receive them.
Despite high demand and low supply, buying and
selling organs is illegal.
Why?
Capitalism 101
To identify money-making opportunities,
you must first understand how wealth is created (and sometimes destroyed).
-Key note: Wealth is created when assets are moved from lower to higher-valued
uses
Definition: Value = willingness to pay
Desire+Income =You want something +you can pay for it
Key note: Voluntary transactions, between individuals or firms, create wealth.
•Meaning, people create wealth by pursuing self-interest.
Housing Example
A house is for sale:
● The buyer values the house at $130,000
• This is the buyer’s top dollar – willingness to pay
● The seller values the house at $120,000
• This is the seller’s bottom line – won’t accept less
The buyer and seller must agree to a price that “splits”
surplus between buyer and seller. Here, $128,000.
Surplus
The buyer and seller both benefit from this transaction:
● Buyer surplus = buyer’s value minus the price
$130,000 - $128,000 = $2,000 buyer surplus
● Seller surplus = the price minus the seller’s value
$128,000 - $120,000 = $8,000 seller surplus
● Total surplus = buyer + seller surplus = difference in values
$2,000 + $8,000 = $10,000 $130,000 - $120,000 = $10,000
$10,000 are the gains from trade
Wealth-Creating Transactions
● Which assets do these transactions move to higher
valued uses?
• Factory Owners
• Corporate Raiders
• Real Estate Agents
• Insurance Salesman
• Investment Bankers
● Discussion: How does eBay create wealth?
● Discussion: Which individual has created the most
wealth during your lifetime?
● Discussion: How do you create wealth?
Do Mergers Create Wealth?
● Do mergers follow the wealth-creating engine of
capitalism? Do they move assets to a higher-valued use?
• Our largest and most valuable assets are corporations.
● Ex: Dell-Alienware merger:
• In 2006, Dell purchased Alienware, a manufacturer of
high-end gaming computers.
• Dell left design, marketing, sales and support in
Alienware’s hands.
• Dell took over manufacturing though, using its expertise
to build Alienware’s computers at a much lower cost
Destroying Wealth
Anything that stops assets from moving to higher
valued uses is destroying wealth.
• Taxes Destroy Wealth:
• By deterring wealth-creating transactions – when the tax is
larger than the surplus for a transaction.
• Subsidies Destroy Wealth:
• Example: flood insurance encourages people to build in areas
that they otherwise wouldn’t
• Price Controls Destroy Wealth:
• Example: rent control (price ceiling) in New York City
deters transactions between owners and renters
● Which assets end up in lower-valued uses?
Profiting from Inefficiency
● Taxes create a profit opportunity
• Discussion: 1983 Sweden tax
● Subsidies create opportunity
• Discussion: health insurance
● Price-controls create opportunity
• Discussion: Regulation Q. & euro dollars
• Discussion: What about ethics?