Don't Forget Self-Interest at Work.
Stephen Pollard brings up a point about self-interest and the British Medical Association. The post is specifically about the BMA's warning about gambling, but the introductory sentences could be applied on the U.S. side of the Atlantic. We could substitute, say, "the teachers union" for the "British Medical Association," and the logic would be just as useful to remember:


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When it comes to self-advancement, there is no interest group that comes close to the British Medical Association. When trade union officials speak, we know what they are up to. They are trying to increase their influence and power. And we judge the sense of what they say accordingly.

The BMA is, except in one crucial respect, no different. It is like any other trade union, with the same overriding motivation: to increase its influence and power. The crucial difference, however, is that when the prefix "Doctor" is attached to a name, we lose our critical faculties. We assume that anything emanating from the BMA is disinterested and motivated only by the desire to increase the sum of human good.

Often, this is obfuscated by our lack of medical knowledge [or knowledge of current pedagogical theories, or fear of facing 20 children in a classroom every day]. We have to take on trust the recommendations of experts. But just occasionally, the transfer of money into doctors' hands --which the BMA exists to pursue -- is made blatant.

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The self-interest of experts and advocacy groups is nothing usual, and not in itself a bad thing. But policy makers and citizens alike ought to hold to some healthy skepticism from those peddling solutions. (permalink)