"For almost two decades, the monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Covington, Louisiana, supported themselves by making and selling unadorned handmade pine and cypress caskets.
But if embalmers and funeral directors in the state of Louisiana have their way, the monks will be barred from earning a living by making coffins without a license issued by a state government board, eight of whose nine members work in the funeral industry.
Business people love to say how much they cherish free markets, all the while decrying government that limits entrepreneurialism and personal freedom.
But the truth is there is nothing most business people like less than free markets."
You can read the entire article here.
Also, notice that this is an example of what Doug calls a Retained Earning-Maximizing Non-profit Enterprise being so successful that it attracted the (hostile) attention of its for-profit competitors. To see more about the monks and their business, click here.
1 comment:
Business people tend to support markets because they understand the principle that trade promotes progress. However, they want the progress to flow from the goods THEY, not somebody else, sell.
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