A Free Market in Kidneys? W. Block

308 A Free Market in Kidneys? by Walter Block A ccording to recent reports, the black market value of a kidney which can be transplanted is some $13,000-which translates to roughly seven times its weight in gold. This is a dramatic figure, and behind it lies a tale of untold human suffering. There are thousands of people who desper ately need kidney transplants. Paradoxically, there are other thousands of people who die each year, taking healthy kidneys to the grave, who have had no financial incentive to be queath these organs to those in need. Why, it may be asked, cannot potential donors be given a pecuniary reward for doing the right thing? That is, what precludes a businessman from purchasing the future rights to kidneys from potential donors, and then selling these kidneys to those who need transplants? The problem is, it is illegal to harness mar ketplace incentives in order to encourage kidney donors. In the United States, the Na tional Organ Transplantation Act (1984) pro hibits the sale of organs for transplantation.

Instead, we resort to all sorts of inefficient stratagems. Celebrities exhort us, in the event we suffer an untimely death, to make a posthu mous gift of these organs. Medical schools coach their students on the best techniques for approaching next of kin; the difficulty. is that they must ask permission at the precise time when it is least likely to be given-upon the sudden loss of a loved one. These tactics have been to little avail. While potential recipients languish on painful dialysis machines, the public hasn't signed cards in suf ficient numbers giving permission for auto matic posthumous donor status. Things have Dr. Block is Senior Economist at The Fraser Institute, Vancouver, Canada. come to such a pass that in Canada there are plans being bruited about which would allow the government to seize the kidneys of accident victims unless they have signed cards denying such permission.

The free enterprise system, were it allowed to operate,might save the lives of thousandsof kidney disease patients. A legalized market place would offer strong financial incentives for donors. Would you sign a card donating your kidney after death for $13,000, right now, in hard cash? There-are very few people who would tum up their noses at such an offer. And if sufficient supplies were still not forthcoming at this level, prices would rise even farther until all demand was satisfied. Given free enterprise incentives, there would be no shortage of kidneys. This, after all, is the same process we rely on to provide the other necessities of life: food, clothing, and shelter. We do not wait for volun tary donations of these vitally important goods and services. There is no doubt that those presently re sponsible for preventing a free market in kidneys act with the noblest of motives. To them, legalizing the purchase and sale of human organs would be degrading. Far better, from their viewpoi~, that people donate their bodily parts for free so that thousands of kidney disease sufferers might live normal lives. How ever, no matter how benevolent the intentions of the prohibitionists, it cannot be denied that the effect of their actions has been to render it less likely that those in need will be served.

It is time to put aside our archaic and preju dicial opposition to the marketplace, so that we can relieve the suffering and, in many cases, lift the death sentence we have inadvertently placed on our fellow citizens. D 309 Take Back the Environment by Jorge E. Amador P opular mythology has it that in the struggle against selfish private interests, government stands tall as guardian of the common good. Consider the environment. In the United States, decades of "landmark" legislation, massive bureaucratic growth, and billions in expenditures have left the impression that the state is the environment's friend. Appearances deceive. Despite its reputation, government's record on environmental protec tion is at best mixed. Antipollution legislation has encouraged pollution in the name of abating it. Governments at all levels are among the worst defilers of the environment. Govern ment is itself one of the major obstacles to solving the problem of pollution.