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Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

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Re: Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

#61

Post by 9c8675a8 »

littlestymaar wrote: post #42
WalterBright wrote: post #34

> Rather than lean and efficient services, privatization appears to have led to administrative bloat, price inflation, and a gutting of state capacity. Privatization of government services is not the same thing as a free market, and hence free market forces are not applying to it. In a free market, when a business contracts for services from another business, it is motivated by value received and price paid. When the…

> Privatization of government services is not the same thing as a free market, and hence free market forces are not applying to it. The problem is that nothing is the “same thing as a free market”. Free market don't exist in the real world, and the market forces are way less powerful than what we would like. They are almost always dwarfed by other forces (transaction cost, network effect, economies of scale, and info…

So you want a false sense of "security" and "certainty" instead of reality. You're basically insane.

Re: Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

#62

Post by dredmorbius »

WalterBright wrote: post #60
littlestymaar wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The complete inability to predict anything useful[1] is a clear marker of the failure of this model though… [1]: crisis for starter…

I predict that when I go to the supermarket, the free market has apples for sale there. My prediction has never turned out to be false. It's a useful prediction.

I predict that when I look out my door to the east tomorrow morning, I will see Apollo's chariot ascending through the firmament.

My prediction has never turned out to be false. It's a useful prediction.

Re: Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

#63

Post by Wh1skey »

The story of Rome’s fall is both complicated and relatively straightforward yet it eerily resembles America: The state became too big and chaotic; the influence of money and private interests corrupted public institutions; and social and economic inequalities became so large that citizens lost faith in the system altogether and gradually fell into the arms of tyrants and demagogues.

If all of that sounds familiar, well, that’s because the parallels to our current political moment are striking. Edward Watts, a historian at the University of California San Diego, has just published a new book titled Mortal Republic that carefully lays out what went wrong in ancient Rome — and how the lessons of its decline might help save fledgling republics like the United States today.

Re: Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

#64

Post by Red_Leaves_Flyy »

WalterBright wrote: post #41
Red_Leaves_Flyy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot more competition in the food market. Bananas too expensive? Just get oranges. Asthma meds too expensive? Take out a loan, drive to anthercountry, or roll the dice and maybe die.

Government interference has severely limited competition in health care. For just one example, after Obamacare passed my health insurance provider decided to exit the business, and there is only one provider left in the county. They have a monopoly. I pay far higher premiums now, and can only go to "network" doctors.

Yeah. That's because a half measure was taken. Instead of going full single payer we've gone full capitalist. The higher prices are the obvious consequence of allowing greedy _ to control who gets what quality of healthcare and who dies or goes bankrupt.

Re: Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

#65

Post by jjulius »

Wh1skey wrote: post #63

The story of Rome’s fall is both complicated and relatively straightforward yet it eerily resembles America: The state became too big and chaotic; the influence of money and private interests corrupted public institutions; and social and economic inequalities became so large that citizens lost faith in the system altogether and gradually fell into the arms of tyrants and demagogues. If all of that sounds familiar, we…

Are you advertising the book? I realized I'd read this comment in a separate thread today and, lo and behold, your profile shows you copy/pasting this exact comment across six separate threads, all at about the same time.

Edit: Not only that, but you've essentially plagiarized a Vox article[1] from earlier this year. You just copy/pasted the third and fourth paragraphs from the piece without even using quotations or attributing it to someone else.

[1]https://www.vox.com/2019/1/1/18139787/rome-decline-america-e...

Re: Reinvigorating the most important battle in economics

#66

Post by dang »

Wh1skey wrote: post #63

The story of Rome’s fall is both complicated and relatively straightforward yet it eerily resembles America: The state became too big and chaotic; the influence of money and private interests corrupted public institutions; and social and economic inequalities became so large that citizens lost faith in the system altogether and gradually fell into the arms of tyrants and demagogues. If all of that sounds familiar, we…

We've banned this account for posting the same comment 5 times—totally not cool.

If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you won't abuse the site in the future.

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