Why do people behave more ethicaly (or fairly) in a free-market than in a regulated market? It's clear the pay-off for defection is more in a free-market because the actual opportunities come more often. The market regulation simply makes it more costly to defect, and hence reducing the final profit motive, because it takes more resources to bypass the regulation hence increasing the price of defection and increasing the period between defections because it takes more time to collect and manage the resources to defect. I would contend that the economic problems we experience are not because the market is regulated (or not) but that the regulation is not *impartial* to the outcome. ____________________________________________________________________ To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. Confucius The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------