Andy H. Barnett, Roger D. Blair, and David L. Kaserman

In the following viewpoint, Andy H. Barnett, Roger D. Blair, and David L. Kaserman contend that the shortage of organ donors is due to economics. A system in which the reward for organ donation is strictly altruistic will always result in a shortage of organs, they maintain. However, if the buying and selling of organs were legalized, they argue, donor organs would be plentiful and market prices for the organs would quickly stabilize. Barnett is the director of the Auburn Policy Research Center and associate professor of economics at Auburn University in Alabama. Blair is the Huber Hurst Professor of Business and Legal Studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Kaserman is the Torch- mark Professor of Economics at Auburn University.

As you read, consider the...