AOC says ‘you can’t earn’ a billion dollars. Common sense says otherwise

According to a part-time economist and full-time member of Congress, no one can honestly earn a billion dollars. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has said that “You can get market power, you can break rules, you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth, but you can’t earn that.”

There is much wrong with this claim.

First, consider “market power.” Either no one has such power, or everyone does. Under free enterprise, each person can set a price for what he or she owns. I can offer my pen for $1 million if I choose. That does not mean I can force anyone to buy it. In that sense, market power means only the freedom to set one’s own terms, not the power to compel others.

SOCIALIST NEW YORK CITY BITES THE HAND THAT FEEDS IT

If “market power” means the ability to exclude competitors or dominate a