You are free to donate your kidney. There's no problem with the transaction. You just can't get paid for it. I'm not sure you can earmark a kidney now, but it's certainly of a different nature of a problem than the selling of a kidney. They do the, I chose my example kind of carefully. They say we were asking for a particular blood type for one person who was about to die. And that, let's suppose we could agree. Okay. So how's that analogous?
Mike Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the psychology, sociology, and economics of buying and selling. Why are different transactions that seemingly make both parties better off frowned on and often made illegal? In theory, all voluntary transactions should make both parties better off. But Munger argues that some transactions are more voluntary than others. Munger lists the attributes of a truly voluntary transaction, what he calls a euvoluntary transaction and argues that when transactions are not euvoluntary, they may be outlawed or seen as immoral. Related issues that are discussed include price gouging after a natural disaster, blackmail, sales of human organs, and the employment of low-wage workers.