Posted by Peter Franks on April 14, 2011, 2:04 pm
On 4/14/2011 1:20 AM, Giga2 <Giga2 wrote:
>> On 4/13/2011 9:45 AM, Bob F wrote:
>>> Bill Ward wrote:
>>>>> Maybe to do something for the general good?
>>>>
>>>> Who decides what's the "general good"? Isn't that what the market is
>>>> all about?
>>>
>>> That's the last thing the "market" is about. It is about profits.
>>> Sometimes a
>>> society makes decisions that there are more important things than profits
>>> to
>>> better the lives of its citizens.
>>
>> You mean the citizens can't decide for themselves? They need some group
>> to tell them? Sounds like stupid citizens to me...
> Do you ever use experts in your life? Dentists? Doctors? Car mechanic? Did
> you buy your car from car manufacturer?
Further, those 'experts' don't decide a single thing for me. They
provide their expert OPINION and the I DECIDE.
DUH!
Posted by Giga2 on April 15, 2011, 4:14 pm
> On 4/14/2011 1:20 AM, Giga2 <Giga2 wrote:
>>> On 4/13/2011 9:45 AM, Bob F wrote:
>>>> Bill Ward wrote:
>>>>>> Maybe to do something for the general good?
>>>>>
>>>>> Who decides what's the "general good"? Isn't that what the market is
>>>>> all about?
>>>>
>>>> That's the last thing the "market" is about. It is about profits.
>>>> Sometimes a
>>>> society makes decisions that there are more important things than
>>>> profits
>>>> to
>>>> better the lives of its citizens.
>>>
>>> You mean the citizens can't decide for themselves? They need some group
>>> to tell them? Sounds like stupid citizens to me...
>>
>> Do you ever use experts in your life? Dentists? Doctors? Car mechanic?
>> Did
>> you buy your car from car manufacturer?
> Further, those 'experts' don't decide a single thing for me. They provide
> their expert OPINION and the I DECIDE.
> DUH!
Don't you decide *who* to ask for advice rather than whether the advice is
good? At the end of the day all you get some idea of is if you trust that
person, they have a good reputation etc. Eventually you sometimes have to
accept some people do know more than *you* in some areas of life.
Posted by Vaughn on April 6, 2011, 8:03 pm
> Subsidies don't reduce price, they just shift costs from one person to
> another through compulsion.
Actually a temporary subsidy for new technology can reduce costs by creating
demand, (IE: "creating a market"). The larger demand should lead to
manufacturing and distribution efficiencies and competation that can greatly
reduce unit costs.
Vaughn
Posted by Peter Franks on April 6, 2011, 8:38 pm
On 4/6/2011 1:03 PM, Vaughn wrote:
>> Subsidies don't reduce price, they just shift costs from one person to
>> another through compulsion.
> Actually a temporary subsidy for new technology can reduce costs by creating
> demand, (IE: "creating a market"). The larger demand should lead to
> manufacturing and distribution efficiencies and competation that can greatly
> reduce unit costs.
1) The initial cost has not been reduced; it has merely been shifted
from one demographic to another.
2) Governments are not instituted to 'create markets' or to control
economies of scale.
Posted by Tom P on April 6, 2011, 9:04 pm
On 04/06/2011 10:38 PM, Peter Franks wrote:
> On 4/6/2011 1:03 PM, Vaughn wrote:
>>> Subsidies don't reduce price, they just shift costs from one person to
>>> another through compulsion.
>>
>> Actually a temporary subsidy for new technology can reduce costs by
>> creating
>> demand, (IE: "creating a market"). The larger demand should lead to
>> manufacturing and distribution efficiencies and competation that can
>> greatly
>> reduce unit costs.
> 1) The initial cost has not been reduced; it has merely been shifted
> from one demographic to another.
> 2) Governments are not instituted to 'create markets' or to control
> economies of scale.
sure - it really makes you wonder why big business donates so much money
to political parties, right?
>>> Bill Ward wrote:
>>>>> Maybe to do something for the general good?
>>>>
>>>> Who decides what's the "general good"? Isn't that what the market is
>>>> all about?
>>>
>>> That's the last thing the "market" is about. It is about profits.
>>> Sometimes a
>>> society makes decisions that there are more important things than profits
>>> to
>>> better the lives of its citizens.
>>
>> You mean the citizens can't decide for themselves? They need some group
>> to tell them? Sounds like stupid citizens to me...
> Do you ever use experts in your life? Dentists? Doctors? Car mechanic? Did
> you buy your car from car manufacturer?