The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 11

While a state legislature was debating a bill that would allow optometrists to administer certain eye drops during eye exams, 50 ophthalmologists descended on the capitol to lobby against the bill. The chairman of the state Academy of Ophthalmology told a reporter: "There is no economic advantage one way or the other." The ophthalmologists' sole concern was that, if the bill became law, "more people will be harmed through inappropriate use of drugs." Do you believe that 50 medical specialists all took a day off from their practices to lobby the legislature exclusively out of concern for the public's health?