February 03, 2021
It's remarkable that Adam Smith was writing in the 1770s, some 250 years ago; the quote above is from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations . And it's as true now as it was then.
If you want to understand why healthcare is so expensive, why Illinois is teetering on the edge of fiscal ruin, or why housing is so unaffordable in the Bay Area, that quote will get you pretty far. The issue is competition , and regulatory capture.