The Market for Body Parts

Late last year, The Economist took the position that people should be able to sell their own kidneys. This raised many ethical questions about the concept of selling body parts. However, there already exists an active industry that involves humans in developing countries selling a part of their bodies to richer people in the west: the traffic in human hair.

The market for human hair, used for wigs and extensions, has been booming. Wearing hair extensions, once considered the domain of strippers, has become fashionable for celebrities and the like. Of course the extensions must be top quality--raising the demand for human hair.

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