From: WesBurt@aol.com
Date: Sat Sep 27 1997 - 16:04:46 MDT
On 97-09-27 16:08:09 EDT, johnkc@well.com (John K Clark) wrote in a note to
Joao Pedro:
>Free-markets is not (at least for many people) the best solution
It's easy to dream up something better, the trouble is they're comparing the
free market as it actually is, warts and all, >>>> Snip <<<<
John K Clark johnkc@well.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I fully share John K Clark's confidence in the reliability of the market
mechanism when its technical requirements are satisfied, but we need to have
more public discussion on the one big wart that is the mother of all the
little warts attributed to the free market by its many opponents. That big
wart, IMHO, is the failure of corporations or governments to remove fixed and
unavoidable costs from the variable cost data used by product lines or
households to price their products and services in a competitive market.
That big wart is very simple, a ten year old can understand it, but has been
treated as an act of God in the media, in our schools, and on the internet;
while the industrial nations have rested content with 5-25% unemployment and
2-3% sustained inflation, since the 1890's. I don't understand why!
Let's talk about the warts.
WesBurt
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