Viewing profile — bostonscott

Exactly what Amazon did on "sales tax." Against it, until their growth created a nexus in most states and required it. Now they have been one of the most forceful lobbyists advocat…

Bingo. This is precisely how big companies leverage big government to prevent challenges from threatening their business model. Amazon is investing its money into lobbying for "Mai…

Can you connect the dots for me? Why is the prevalence of two-earner households driving the gravitation towards bigger cities? Here is one perspective on "why urbanization" - https…

"I mean you might get a few people who are willing to commute 4 hours a day, but certainly not enough to satisfy SV's needs. I doubt a company would pay their janitorial staff enou…

The central problem is the motive. Low income individuals do not have such a powerful lobby that they're able to compel States to create laws that require affordable housing. It's …

"Google was being already investigated/accused of extreme gender pay discrimination" Being "investigated" implies government intervention. Being "accused" implies lawsuit. Which is…

"but this memo was a mistake and showed poor judgement and more than a little bias" "openness" and "freedom" are core values of Google. Even in a scenario where someone made effect…

"A corporation may not be the best place to bring up these topics, if your goal is to avoid getting fired" Agree. In fairness to James, however, I believe HR solicited feedback. "[…

Your reference to lenders began with: "You are assuming perfect competition in the area of loans to nation-states," and you said "there are only a handful of lenders playing at thi…

"Only a handful of lenders playing at this level" There are many lenders playing at "this level," presuming that by "this level" you're referring to the market for sovereign debt. …

Not at all. Greece is not an "undeveloped" country. Their people simply supported social policies that resulted in more expenses than revenues.

You said: "but monopolies are also created through natural means and that still doesn't change my general premise" I'm just looking for an example of a single monopoly that fits yo…

So what's the moral of the story, practically speaking? If you drill a hole in the bottom of your boat; Be selective about whom you let save you?

"Predatory" lending is only possible in the presence of coercion. If Party A is such a bad credit risk that the only loan they can get is from Party B at a high interest rate, and …

Not just banks and corporations, but statists and politicians too. Each require this symbiosis. How it always starts: "Yay, justice! Let's collect a bunch of money from rich people…

The only practical way to break up large companies is to create a competitive environment that takes them down. See: "Fortune 500 firms in 1955 vs. 2014; 88% are gone." If the larg…

Can you provide an example of such a monopoly, that you contend has been created through "natural means?" It's a sincere question. I can't think of a single example.

Example?

So a doctor who decides to solve the problem of , and proceeds to raise $500 million over the next 15 years to develop a solution, get it approved, and commercialize it... is a "re…

1. Half true. Competition drives down prices, but not necessarily profits. For example, you can lower your prices using innovation, by achieving economies of scale, etc. 2. Over lo…

You doubt people act in their rational self-interest? Smart, hard-working people who consistently exercise good judgement, prefer merit-based systems. They do better in merit-based…

Disagree. It is our current system, which increasingly empowers opportunists over capitalists, that will create "corporate fascism." Current system: 1) Big companies pay minimal or…

It's not the endgame of all capitalists. Actual capitalists, limited in number as they are, prefer free markets (e.g. no cronyism) because they'll make more money that way over tim…

The concept of "crony capitalism" is a misnomer. "Crony" is not a type of capitalism, it's the antithesis of capitalism. It's enabled by giving too much power to government. For ex…