 Rand holds that there is no conflict between one person’s rational interests and another’s, hence that there is no conflict between their rights (1962a, 1964a: 57–65). Is it true, however, that rational interests cannot conflict, or that, if they do, it follows that rights must also conflict? Our answer to both questions is ‘no’. We think that whenever two or more people have a rational interest in one good, there is potential for conflict, and sometimes that potential is actualized. To show otherwise, Rand considers a situation in which two people apply for the same job, and the better candidate gets the job. There is no conflict of interests here, she argues, because the better candidate has earned the job, and the loser cannot rationally wish to have been given the job. Both applicants also know that competition for jobs is a good thing, because the business would close if only one person applied for its jobs (presumably, because that would mean that the business wasn’t doing very well).