Kidney Donations

I recently learned that my colleague and Dean, Jennifer Mnookin, donated a kidney to her father, Harvard law professor Bob Mnookin; my hat would be off to her, if I wore a hat, and I’m delighted to hear that both daughter and father are doing well.

This also reminded me that my longtime friend and recent guest-blogger, Virginia Postrel, had donated a kidney 15 years ago to her friend Sally Satel (who as it happens was cited in a post here last week). Again, hat off to Virginia.

I have long thought that people should be compensated for kidney donations (and that heirs should be compensated for post mortem donations). Put a $0 cap on a scarce good, and unsurprisingl