And yes, if you could certainly make the case that we would all be better off with a private company administering this sort of thing, then I would expect my government to yield it’s power. I think I’d need to see more solid evidence than the lofty theorizing done here.

Let us say this market does not clear. It may not, but we don’t know so let’s assume it does not for now. Is a market’s failure to clear the criteria for government action? How would we know if a market does not clear? If the government takes control of a market then at a later time the transaction costs declined or entrepreneurs innovates and the market would clear, would we expect government to give up its power?

And how exactly is this different from Government except by degree? It seems, when pressed, you end up moving into something resembling. . oh, I don’t know. . .a social contract? And with the airlines paying private companies to track down these people, can you be certain that accounting for transaction costs, this market clears? The cost of obtaining such information would be relevant as well as the expected payoff for the airlines. Airlines would certainly incurr a large loss if they let someone with TB on their plane, but clearly this is such a remote possibility, they may not be willing to pay large sums for the information.

Just a thought. . .