Free Markets and Prisons

[BCPVP]

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The point is that free markets won't be effective, since, in the case of prison healthcare, food, clothing and etc. the people receiving the service are not the one's paying for it. The one's providing the goods and services have an economic incentive to come as close to not fulfilling their contract as possible. And once the contract has been awareded the market is no longer free until the contract expires.

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(Scary, I'm sounding more like PVN! [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img])
Why does the state not have such problems while the "free market" does? You never explained why a free market would be ineffective and the state would.

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It is different because in the case with outsourced provider the prisoner has no recourse AND the provider has an economic incentive not to the job.

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While I could be wrong as I'm not that well-versed on this subject, I doubt that a prisoner's legal right to sue over mistreatment disappeaers in a private prison. PVN would probably argue that under a totally state-free system, the prison has an excellent economic incentive to not mistreat the prisoners.

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The prisoner has no recourse so the state never really gets to know.

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See above. This would be true if the prisoner's right to an attorney is stripped in private prisons, and I'd have a hard time believing it is.

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The state may be the customer, but it is not the one receiving the goods or services.

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The service is keeping certain people away from the rest of society so they can't continue to hurt others. The state in this case desires this service and it's proven that firms exist that will provide it.

Sorry for butting in.