What other product/market do you think should be legalized (or one that is currently legal and should not be) and why? After listening to the podcast on WAMU 88.5 titled, "Should We Legalize the Market for Human Organs?" I realized that there is indeed a shortage of human organs available for transplant. According to our Principles of Macroeconomics textbook, "A shortage is a situation in which quantity demanded is greater than quantity supplied" (Mankiw). Knox states, "There just are not enough organs to go around. About 75,000 Americans are on the waiting list for kidney transplants. But in the coming year, just 18,000 will get them. That is only one in four" (Knox). This fact is sheer evidence that there is a shortage of human organs. Today I will explain how legalizing the trade for human organs will help move the market towards equilibrium by using the demand and supply framework. Currently, organs can only be donated, which causes a shortage of human organs available to those in need. Even though thousands of organs are contributed every year, there is still an excessive demand for those organs. According to NPR.org, "The supply of cadaveric organs has been disappointingly flat" (Knox). As a result of this, thousands of people die every year due to the lack of organs available. However, if we legalized the trade for cadaveric organs, we would save lives, and the market would reach a point of equilibrium. According to our Principles of Macroeconomics textbook, "Equilibrium is a situation in which the market price has reached the level at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded" (Mankiw). In this case, quantity supplied would be the number of organs sellers are willing and able to sell and quantity demanded is the number of organs buyers are willing and able to purchase. In this case, the quantity supplied did not equal the quantity demanded, resulting in a shortage. However, if we legalized the trade for organs, more people could and would donate. Since the number of organs available to be transplanted would increase due to the increase in donors, the supply curve would then shift outwards and to the right. According to Investopedia, "A positive change in supply when demand is constant shifts the supply curve to the right, which results in an intersection that yields lower prices and higher quantity" (Ganti). In conclusion, the equilibrium price is the price at which the quantity demanded equals the amount supplied and is determined by the intersection of the demand and supply curves. In this scenario, a shortage exists because the amount of human organs demanded exceeds the quantity supplied at the current price. Legalizing the trade of organs would cause an increase in supply, which would yield lower costs and higher doses. Therefore, the quantity supplied would rise to meet the quantity demanded, which would help to move the market towards equilibrium