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The government is the trusted 3rd party. They price gouge because it turns out that they have a monopoly. The private company would also price gouge because th

The government is the trusted 3rd party. They price gouge because it turns out that they have a monopoly. The private company would also price gouge because they would also be a monopoly - only you would not be able to lobby the private company and vote for a different one...

wwwtyro 11y ago
> The private company would also price gouge because they would also be a monopoly Why would they also be a monopoly?
- thrownaway122 11y ago
  > Why would they also be a monopoly? Because otherwise there would be a proliferation of licensing companies. This would lead to competition on price (good!) but also on standards/easier certification (bad?). Customer confusion also becomes an issue here - do you really want to have to research which licensing bodies have acceptable standards as well as which providers have good prices and results before everytime you cut your hair? I think that the ideal option is that the licensing is run by a not for profit that has the government on its board but which is run at arms length.
logicchains 11y ago
>The private company would also price gouge because they would also be a monopoly - only you would not be able to lobby the private company and vote for a different one... They needn't necessarily be a monopoly; there's nothing stopping multiple certification companies coexisting. Providing certification is not a natural monopoly.
- dmix 11y ago
  Competing with the government who can put the non-accredited businesses in question out of business or fine them a large amount of money is not fair competition for any private company... so that naturally leads to a monopoly as the OP points out.
- thrownaway122 11y ago
  See my other post.
- anigbrowl 11y ago
  Consumers don't know which certification is worth what. If you run a business you're always getting calls from bullshit consumer certification companies trying to extract money from you by playing on your anxiety about which recommendations consumers trust.

wwwtyro 11y ago

> The private company would also price gouge because they would also be a monopoly Why would they also be a monopoly?

thrownaway122 11y ago
> Why would they also be a monopoly? Because otherwise there would be a proliferation of licensing companies. This would lead to competition on price (good!) but also on standards/easier certification (bad?). Customer confusion also becomes an issue here - do you really want to have to research which licensing bodies have acceptable standards as well as which providers have good prices and results before everytime you cut your hair? I think that the ideal option is that the licensing is run by a not for profit that has the government on its board but which is run at arms length.

logicchains 11y ago

>The private company would also price gouge because they would also be a monopoly - only you would not be able to lobby the private company and vote for a different one... They needn't necessarily be a monopoly; there's nothing stopping multiple certification companies coexisting. Providing certification is not a natural monopoly.

dmix 11y ago
Competing with the government who can put the non-accredited businesses in question out of business or fine them a large amount of money is not fair competition for any private company... so that naturally leads to a monopoly as the OP points out.
thrownaway122 11y ago
See my other post.
anigbrowl 11y ago
Consumers don't know which certification is worth what. If you run a business you're always getting calls from bullshit consumer certification companies trying to extract money from you by playing on your anxiety about which recommendations consumers trust.