Comment to Paul Krugman’s “Facts Have a Well-Known Liberal Bias”, New York Times, 201-12-08
I think a counter-attack to these distorters of facts should be repeating over and over again their misinterpretation and misrepresentation of so many ideas.
To them, a free market means corporations are free to do what they please. But a true free market is:
Many buyers and sellers.
Both buyers and sellers are free to enter or leave the market.
Both buyers and sellers have all the information they need.
There are no externalities (all costs are paid for in the transactions
They cherry-pick “sacred” texts to suit themselves.
Adam Smith in “On the Wealth of Nations” observed the England had laws the prevent the workers from organizing to raise wages but none to prevent the masters from organizing to keep wages down.
Adam Smith warned that those who live by profit are not to be trusted.
“Originalist” judges have changed the Constitution to mean that corporations are people.
Showing posts with label profit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label profit. Show all posts
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Monday, July 31, 2017
Foxconn’s foxy con
Foxconn want’s to build a factory in Wisconsin that will employ three thousand workers possibly becoming 13,000 workers. Foxconn plans to invest up to $13 billion in the plant. Gov. Scott Walker said that the Wisconsin will supply up to $3 billion dollars in incentives. See http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/technology/4303440-foxconn-announces-major-new-manufacturing-plant-wisconsin.
Oops! Aren’t Republicans the ones who believe in standing on your own two feet and not accepting government handouts.
If it makes business sense to build such a project, then shouldn’t business be the one investing its own money.
See “Foxconn’s long con”, John Biggs, TechCrunch, 2017-07-28. Politicians around the world have been out-foxed by Foxconn. Don’t these politicians read Adam Smith: “This order of men is not to be trusted.”
Oops! Aren’t Republicans the ones who believe in standing on your own two feet and not accepting government handouts.
If it makes business sense to build such a project, then shouldn’t business be the one investing its own money.
See “Foxconn’s long con”, John Biggs, TechCrunch, 2017-07-28. Politicians around the world have been out-foxed by Foxconn. Don’t these politicians read Adam Smith: “This order of men is not to be trusted.”
Sunday, December 18, 2016
The perfect gift?
Where do all these vendors get the idea that something is the perfect gift for me to give or get?
My mail box and the newspapers and the store shelves all point to “The perfect gift”.
A new phone is not the perfect gift for someone who is satisfied with the one they already have. A gift card for a store the recipient will never visit is not a perfect gift. EBay, Apple, your local hardware store, Walgreen’s, on and on goes the list of purveyors of “the perfect gift”.
The only true perfect gift is world peace and no crime. And we have far too many people that would rather kill people they don’t like or even know for world peace to be close at hand.
My mail box and the newspapers and the store shelves all point to “The perfect gift”.
A new phone is not the perfect gift for someone who is satisfied with the one they already have. A gift card for a store the recipient will never visit is not a perfect gift. EBay, Apple, your local hardware store, Walgreen’s, on and on goes the list of purveyors of “the perfect gift”.
The only true perfect gift is world peace and no crime. And we have far too many people that would rather kill people they don’t like or even know for world peace to be close at hand.
Friday, January 15, 2016
"For want of a nail…” updated
Because an employee was laid off, certain data was not gathered.
Because certain data was not gathered, a report was not made.
Because a report was not made, a contract was lost.
Because a contract was lost, revenue was lost.
Because revenue was lost, a company was lost.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Hubris is ruinous
Hubris is overreaching pride and arrogance. Many Greek tragedies have the gods punishing those like Oedipus. Shakespeare tragedies have circumstances punishing those like MacBeth and Othello. It seems that rarely do the electorates punish those with overreaching pride and arrogance. They do it by not voting and those with hubris never count the non-voters.
Scott Walker is one who is showing overreaching pride and arrogance in his abilities.
He touts his electoral success but ignores that he won with a low turn-out. Many other newly-elected Republican governors won with higher vote counts (of those who bother to vote). Those who signed the petition to recall Walker but then didn’t show up to vote were also arrogant.
He talks about the “invisible hand of the free market”, but ignores Adam Smith’s admonition of trusting those who live by profit.
He is proud to have passed a “right to fire” law, but ignores Smith noting that the masters could organize to keep wages down but it was illegal for the workers to organize to raise wages. If workers can refuse to pay union dues, is there a complimentary law that businesses can be part of Chambers of Commerce without paying dues?
He thinks that facing down demonstrators qualifies him to take on the likes of ISIS. Facing demonstrators armed with pizzas is not same as facing a few thousand jihadists armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and more. Also, he ignores the history of meddling in the Middle East; it has always backfired, maybe not right away, but within a few years.
I only have my keyboard against Scott Walker’s many microphones. If you are a Wisconsin voter who didn’t show up in one of more of Walker’s election “landslides”, please show up the next time.
Many politicians other than Walker cite their belief in American exceptionalism. Sorry, but many people in other countries, well-governed or not, believe their countries are exceptional. The difference is that many of these people don’t think their exceptionalism gives them the right to tell other countries how to conduct their own affairs. Those who believe in American “exceptionalism” refuse to see how often the “gods” have punished this hubris: Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and more. The proponents of the “domino theory” seemed to have ignored that a game of dominos can go off in unexpected directions.
The hubris of the jihadists of ISIS and other terror groups make the hubris of American politicians look like a parlor game. The jihadists claim they are doing Allah’s will, but how do they know this other than repeating it to each other? Where is their forgiveness to others that Allah gives them? And if they believe “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”), can’t Allah right these “wrongs”.
If God could flood the entire world, killing thousands of pregnant women and their unborn children, couldn't God send a lightning bolt to strike “blasphemers” dead? If God could destroy the tower of Babel, built out of bricks, couldn’t God bring down the skyscrapers of steel in all the cities of the non-believers? If God could destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the residents were sinful, couldn’t God destroy all the much larger cities of today where there is much “sin” according to purists who believe in an Almighty God?
The greatest hubris of all is that of countries with nuclear weapons. They want to prevent other countries from having any capacity to build nuclear weapons, but they seem very disinclined to reduce the number of their own nuclear weapons. These nuclear countries are ready at a moment’s notice to cause more death and destruction than the God of the Old Testament did from the beginning of the world.
Mel wishes the pen were mightier than the sword far more often than it has been.
Scott Walker is one who is showing overreaching pride and arrogance in his abilities.
He touts his electoral success but ignores that he won with a low turn-out. Many other newly-elected Republican governors won with higher vote counts (of those who bother to vote). Those who signed the petition to recall Walker but then didn’t show up to vote were also arrogant.
He talks about the “invisible hand of the free market”, but ignores Adam Smith’s admonition of trusting those who live by profit.
He is proud to have passed a “right to fire” law, but ignores Smith noting that the masters could organize to keep wages down but it was illegal for the workers to organize to raise wages. If workers can refuse to pay union dues, is there a complimentary law that businesses can be part of Chambers of Commerce without paying dues?
He thinks that facing down demonstrators qualifies him to take on the likes of ISIS. Facing demonstrators armed with pizzas is not same as facing a few thousand jihadists armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and more. Also, he ignores the history of meddling in the Middle East; it has always backfired, maybe not right away, but within a few years.
I only have my keyboard against Scott Walker’s many microphones. If you are a Wisconsin voter who didn’t show up in one of more of Walker’s election “landslides”, please show up the next time.
Many politicians other than Walker cite their belief in American exceptionalism. Sorry, but many people in other countries, well-governed or not, believe their countries are exceptional. The difference is that many of these people don’t think their exceptionalism gives them the right to tell other countries how to conduct their own affairs. Those who believe in American “exceptionalism” refuse to see how often the “gods” have punished this hubris: Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and more. The proponents of the “domino theory” seemed to have ignored that a game of dominos can go off in unexpected directions.
The hubris of the jihadists of ISIS and other terror groups make the hubris of American politicians look like a parlor game. The jihadists claim they are doing Allah’s will, but how do they know this other than repeating it to each other? Where is their forgiveness to others that Allah gives them? And if they believe “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”), can’t Allah right these “wrongs”.
If God could flood the entire world, killing thousands of pregnant women and their unborn children, couldn't God send a lightning bolt to strike “blasphemers” dead? If God could destroy the tower of Babel, built out of bricks, couldn’t God bring down the skyscrapers of steel in all the cities of the non-believers? If God could destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the residents were sinful, couldn’t God destroy all the much larger cities of today where there is much “sin” according to purists who believe in an Almighty God?
The greatest hubris of all is that of countries with nuclear weapons. They want to prevent other countries from having any capacity to build nuclear weapons, but they seem very disinclined to reduce the number of their own nuclear weapons. These nuclear countries are ready at a moment’s notice to cause more death and destruction than the God of the Old Testament did from the beginning of the world.
Mel wishes the pen were mightier than the sword far more often than it has been.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
VA: problem is not the government
Many have been raising complaints about service at many Veterans Administration centers, and many of those blame President Obama and his administration. But what critics overlook is that they got what they wanted: a smaller government.
How is there a smaller government? By outsourcing management to private companies. In the case of the Veteran Affairs Clinic in Hibbing, Minnesota, it is managed by Cincinnati-based Sterling Medical Associates. See “Elected leaders meet with Hibbing VA workers over scheduling concerns”. http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/283912201.html
According to many of these same critics the purpose of a company is to generate profits. In other words, good service is secondary. Some companies do provide good service as a means of increasing profits. Too many others will short-change good service if it means costs are cut and profits raised.
The sole purpose of government is to provide service. Sure, this gets side-tracked too, but it is far easier to bring that leviathan back to its purpose than it is to get profit-driven companies to put service first.
How is there a smaller government? By outsourcing management to private companies. In the case of the Veteran Affairs Clinic in Hibbing, Minnesota, it is managed by Cincinnati-based Sterling Medical Associates. See “Elected leaders meet with Hibbing VA workers over scheduling concerns”. http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/283912201.html
According to many of these same critics the purpose of a company is to generate profits. In other words, good service is secondary. Some companies do provide good service as a means of increasing profits. Too many others will short-change good service if it means costs are cut and profits raised.
The sole purpose of government is to provide service. Sure, this gets side-tracked too, but it is far easier to bring that leviathan back to its purpose than it is to get profit-driven companies to put service first.
Friday, September 26, 2014
A less obvious shrinkflation
Do you see many refills for liquids in pump dispensers?
Once upon a time, I bought liquid soap based on the availability of larger refill bottles. When I checked a local supermarket earlier this week, there were no refills to be found, neither for soap nor sanitizer.
The groceries and the larger manufacturers make more money per unit selling only the pump containers.
Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth bucks this trend. Not only does it have refill bottles but it also has bulk containers so you can refill your own container.
Many people don’t shop at co-ops because many items often cost more. They don’t realize all the savings in plain sight that are available at co-ops.
See also “Smaller package? Blame Shrinkflation”.
Once upon a time, I bought liquid soap based on the availability of larger refill bottles. When I checked a local supermarket earlier this week, there were no refills to be found, neither for soap nor sanitizer.
The groceries and the larger manufacturers make more money per unit selling only the pump containers.
Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth bucks this trend. Not only does it have refill bottles but it also has bulk containers so you can refill your own container.
Many people don’t shop at co-ops because many items often cost more. They don’t realize all the savings in plain sight that are available at co-ops.
See also “Smaller package? Blame Shrinkflation”.
Friday, August 08, 2014
Is business experience a qualification for government office?
Some Republican candidates are running for statewide office in Minnesota. See
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/270538031.html and http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/270412441.html. They claim that their business experience makes them better qualified for government service.
Adam Smith seems to have thought differently. He said that those who live by profit are not to be trusted because they have often “deceived and oppressed” the public.
See “The Invisible Adam Smith” for more about this.
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/270538031.html and http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/270412441.html. They claim that their business experience makes them better qualified for government service.
Adam Smith seems to have thought differently. He said that those who live by profit are not to be trusted because they have often “deceived and oppressed” the public.
See “The Invisible Adam Smith” for more about this.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
The two most important pieces of stock advice
When selling at a loss, never look at how much you lost but at how much you could have lost.
When selling at a gain, never look at how much you could have gained but at how much you did gain.
When selling at a gain, never look at how much you could have gained but at how much you did gain.
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Does "environmentally friendly copper mining" exist?
Does "environmentally friendly copper mining" exist?
I did a Google search on the phrase "environmentally friendly copper mining". I received a large variety of references, some of them enthusiastic about the process, some very skeptical of its “environmentally friendly” results.
"In-Situ Recovery", Excelsior Mining
This process consists of drilling sets of holes to push an acidic solution down a central hole and then pulling it back up with four nearby holes. The acidic solution dissolves the minerals.
This process requires fracturing and must be below the water table. It supposedly can be permitted in 18 months and built in a year. At the end, wells are flushed and then filled with cement.
This article enthusiastically states, “The San Manuel copper mine, owned by BHP Billiton, was a successful operation…” However, BHP Billiton admits, “The water quality of the future lake is expected to be affected by spent process solutions that remain in the former open pit mine as a result of in situ mining on the benches. . . . the pit lake pH is expected to approach 5.0, and dissolved metals will still be present in the water.” See http://protectourwaterourfuture.com/index.php/2011/03/18/report-isl-operations-comparable-to-curis-project/
"Copper and Sustainability", Copper Development Association
Mostly about the usefulness of copper. Small nod to recycling.
"Copper Mining In A Cotton Field? The Florence In-Situ Mine" by John Kline, the environmental project manager at BHP Copper's Florence site
Reprinted from "On CU", January - March, 1997, Vol. 1, No. 2.
"On CU" is the quarterly publication of BHP Copper, a business group of The Broken Hill Proprietary Corp., Ltd.
This article is very positive about in-situ mining. For example, “Its hard to imagine putting a sulfuric acid solution into the ground, and protecting the environment. But the permitting process makes sure the environment is protected.”
On the other hand, we have "Proposed Florence In-Situ copper Mine a Bad Idea", Arizona Mining Reform Coalition,
"Working to ensure mining is done responsibly to protect communities and the environment in Arizona."
In 2011, fourteen years after it was proposed, this mine still had opposition, including changing the zoning of a residential area and complaints that the mine will contaminate groundwater. See also "Underground acid mining threatens Florence communities", Dan Steuter, conservation chair of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Arizona Republic, 2011-08-28. As of January 2014, the project had not been fully started. See "Florence Copper Project". What was that about 18 months to obtain all necessary permits?
The Saskatchewan Eco Network offers several steps to reduce the need of mined products and to minimize the impact of mining. See http://econet.ca/issues/mining/whatyoucando.html
"Is green mining possible?" by Max Mallet, Green Living. The article is undated but the page copyright is 2014. He wrote that a "good mining company" "is actually a recycling company". He stated that mining companies have too much "secrecy in reporting toxic mining waste". "[T]he industry has a long way to go before it can even be considered remotely green."
Microbiology students at Kenyon College wrote a paper on the use of bacteria to leach copper from ore: "Copper Mining Using Acidothiobacillus". The process has been used in Chile and Uganda. Their conclusion is that "Biomining has proved to be a cheaper, more efficient, and more environmentally-friendly alternative than non-biologically mediated techniques for copper mining…" This is a relative statement; is no harm done or less harm done than in other processes?
"Copper-mining: A boom too far? Why mining's comeback fails to thrill some residents of 'Copper Triangle'", The Economist, 2012-04-14. This article presents many views, especially in the comments. Some praise the prosperity mines bring, others doubt the area will be the same after the mines close down.
"Environmentalists oppose Arizona copper mine: A proposed copper mine in the US state is causing deep divisions between industry, local people and environmentalists", Alan Fisher, AlJazeera, 2013-03-05
Fisher covers a lot of pros and cons; the comments are worth reading also. They range from we don't trust mining to we need mining for our national prosperity. One repeated complaint in this and other articles was that the mining companies were all foreign companies.
United Mines Inc. claims to be "America's Eco-Friendly Miners". However, its stock is trading around five cents. According to Yahoo! Finance, the last financial summary was in 2012: $132,000 in assets and $243,000 in liabilities. Compare this with PolyMet's assets of $93,215,000 and liabilities of $136,920,000. What's this about government should live within its means? Neither of these companies appears to be living within their means. Will they have the means to pay for any damages they might cause? How long will it be before they have sufficient revenue to balance the books?
How would $132,000 or even $93,215,000 provide for cleanup after the mine was closed up, even for a year much less 200 to 500 years?
“At other mining sites in Arizona and across the country, environmental remediation intended to address soil and groundwater contamination resulting from decades of mining activity has been delayed or neglected altogether due to lack of funding. Inadequate financial assurance obligations, corporate bankruptcies, and corporate buyouts can lead to such orphaned sites.” – “Get the Facts”, Protect Our Water Future
“Both mechanical and non-mechanical treatment would require periodic maintenance and monitoring activities. Mechanical water treatment is part of the modeled NorthMet Project Proposed Action for the duration of the simulations (200 years at the Mine Site, and 500 years at the Plant Site)”
- Executive Summary, “NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange”, Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement, November 2013, Executive Summary, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Forest Service
The link to the PDF file can be found at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/index.html
So, would $143,000,000 protect the water for 200 years?
Adam Smith’s warning about those who live by profit is still appropriate after 200 years:
"The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it."
See “The Invisible Adam Smith”.
If you would like to comment on the PolyMet copper mining project, submit your comments before March 13, 2014 to http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/comments.html.
Also published in the Reader Weekly of Duluth at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/02/13/2916_does_environmentally_friendly_copper_mining_exist
I did a Google search on the phrase "environmentally friendly copper mining". I received a large variety of references, some of them enthusiastic about the process, some very skeptical of its “environmentally friendly” results.
"In-Situ Recovery", Excelsior Mining
This process consists of drilling sets of holes to push an acidic solution down a central hole and then pulling it back up with four nearby holes. The acidic solution dissolves the minerals.
This process requires fracturing and must be below the water table. It supposedly can be permitted in 18 months and built in a year. At the end, wells are flushed and then filled with cement.
This article enthusiastically states, “The San Manuel copper mine, owned by BHP Billiton, was a successful operation…” However, BHP Billiton admits, “The water quality of the future lake is expected to be affected by spent process solutions that remain in the former open pit mine as a result of in situ mining on the benches. . . . the pit lake pH is expected to approach 5.0, and dissolved metals will still be present in the water.” See http://protectourwaterourfuture.com/index.php/2011/03/18/report-isl-operations-comparable-to-curis-project/
"Copper and Sustainability", Copper Development Association
Mostly about the usefulness of copper. Small nod to recycling.
"Copper Mining In A Cotton Field? The Florence In-Situ Mine" by John Kline, the environmental project manager at BHP Copper's Florence site
Reprinted from "On CU", January - March, 1997, Vol. 1, No. 2.
"On CU" is the quarterly publication of BHP Copper, a business group of The Broken Hill Proprietary Corp., Ltd.
This article is very positive about in-situ mining. For example, “Its hard to imagine putting a sulfuric acid solution into the ground, and protecting the environment. But the permitting process makes sure the environment is protected.”
On the other hand, we have "Proposed Florence In-Situ copper Mine a Bad Idea", Arizona Mining Reform Coalition,
"Working to ensure mining is done responsibly to protect communities and the environment in Arizona."
In 2011, fourteen years after it was proposed, this mine still had opposition, including changing the zoning of a residential area and complaints that the mine will contaminate groundwater. See also "Underground acid mining threatens Florence communities", Dan Steuter, conservation chair of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Arizona Republic, 2011-08-28. As of January 2014, the project had not been fully started. See "Florence Copper Project". What was that about 18 months to obtain all necessary permits?
The Saskatchewan Eco Network offers several steps to reduce the need of mined products and to minimize the impact of mining. See http://econet.ca/issues/mining/whatyoucando.html
"Is green mining possible?" by Max Mallet, Green Living. The article is undated but the page copyright is 2014. He wrote that a "good mining company" "is actually a recycling company". He stated that mining companies have too much "secrecy in reporting toxic mining waste". "[T]he industry has a long way to go before it can even be considered remotely green."
Microbiology students at Kenyon College wrote a paper on the use of bacteria to leach copper from ore: "Copper Mining Using Acidothiobacillus". The process has been used in Chile and Uganda. Their conclusion is that "Biomining has proved to be a cheaper, more efficient, and more environmentally-friendly alternative than non-biologically mediated techniques for copper mining…" This is a relative statement; is no harm done or less harm done than in other processes?
"Copper-mining: A boom too far? Why mining's comeback fails to thrill some residents of 'Copper Triangle'", The Economist, 2012-04-14. This article presents many views, especially in the comments. Some praise the prosperity mines bring, others doubt the area will be the same after the mines close down.
"Environmentalists oppose Arizona copper mine: A proposed copper mine in the US state is causing deep divisions between industry, local people and environmentalists", Alan Fisher, AlJazeera, 2013-03-05
Fisher covers a lot of pros and cons; the comments are worth reading also. They range from we don't trust mining to we need mining for our national prosperity. One repeated complaint in this and other articles was that the mining companies were all foreign companies.
United Mines Inc. claims to be "America's Eco-Friendly Miners". However, its stock is trading around five cents. According to Yahoo! Finance, the last financial summary was in 2012: $132,000 in assets and $243,000 in liabilities. Compare this with PolyMet's assets of $93,215,000 and liabilities of $136,920,000. What's this about government should live within its means? Neither of these companies appears to be living within their means. Will they have the means to pay for any damages they might cause? How long will it be before they have sufficient revenue to balance the books?
How would $132,000 or even $93,215,000 provide for cleanup after the mine was closed up, even for a year much less 200 to 500 years?
“At other mining sites in Arizona and across the country, environmental remediation intended to address soil and groundwater contamination resulting from decades of mining activity has been delayed or neglected altogether due to lack of funding. Inadequate financial assurance obligations, corporate bankruptcies, and corporate buyouts can lead to such orphaned sites.” – “Get the Facts”, Protect Our Water Future
“Both mechanical and non-mechanical treatment would require periodic maintenance and monitoring activities. Mechanical water treatment is part of the modeled NorthMet Project Proposed Action for the duration of the simulations (200 years at the Mine Site, and 500 years at the Plant Site)”
- Executive Summary, “NorthMet Mining Project and Land Exchange”, Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement, November 2013, Executive Summary, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Forest Service
The link to the PDF file can be found at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/index.html
So, would $143,000,000 protect the water for 200 years?
Adam Smith’s warning about those who live by profit is still appropriate after 200 years:
"The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it."
See “The Invisible Adam Smith”.
If you would like to comment on the PolyMet copper mining project, submit your comments before March 13, 2014 to http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/polymet/comments.html.
Also published in the Reader Weekly of Duluth at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/02/13/2916_does_environmentally_friendly_copper_mining_exist
Thursday, August 08, 2013
Deceiving the public – new data
"[Those who live by profit] have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed [the public]", Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, 1776.
"The Worst Lies Tech Companies Tell You", Adrian Covert, CNNMoney, 2013-08-07 lists some of these deceptions including internet speeds, battery life, and storage space. The comments are all over the map pro, con, right on, and snide (both towards the author and towards corporations).
See also "The Invisible Adam Smith".
"The Worst Lies Tech Companies Tell You", Adrian Covert, CNNMoney, 2013-08-07 lists some of these deceptions including internet speeds, battery life, and storage space. The comments are all over the map pro, con, right on, and snide (both towards the author and towards corporations).
See also "The Invisible Adam Smith".
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Private vs. Public, No Clear Answer
Many people are calling for the privatization of almost everything: schools, utilities, prisons, armies, and more. They claim that a private corporation will be more efficient than a government operated entity. The skeptic should ask what is meant by efficiency and what other values would be lost with privatization.
For example, if a private company operates a prison will a lower cost per prisoner come with a lower cost for security?
If a private company operates something, will it be calling for less regulation, regulations that could be protecting public safety and public health. For example, BP was state-operated for a long time, and then Margaret Thatcher privatized it. Apparently the deadly accident rate has gone way up because costs were cut to keep profits way up.
If private schools take away selected students from public schools, will the students left have fewer role models for success? Many "failing" schools do graduate successful students.
Regardless of the form of an organization, three ingredients are needed for success: clear goals, management that understands those goals, and sufficient resources to meet those goals.
For more, see "When Public Outperforms Private in Services", Eduardo Porter, New York Times, 2013-01-15. See also the book that he mentions, "The Org: The Underlying Logic of the Office" by Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan.
For example, if a private company operates a prison will a lower cost per prisoner come with a lower cost for security?
If a private company operates something, will it be calling for less regulation, regulations that could be protecting public safety and public health. For example, BP was state-operated for a long time, and then Margaret Thatcher privatized it. Apparently the deadly accident rate has gone way up because costs were cut to keep profits way up.
If private schools take away selected students from public schools, will the students left have fewer role models for success? Many "failing" schools do graduate successful students.
Regardless of the form of an organization, three ingredients are needed for success: clear goals, management that understands those goals, and sufficient resources to meet those goals.
For more, see "When Public Outperforms Private in Services", Eduardo Porter, New York Times, 2013-01-15. See also the book that he mentions, "The Org: The Underlying Logic of the Office" by Ray Fisman and Tim Sullivan.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Quote of the day - Competition
"When, for instance, competition laws are not enforced, monopolies grow, and with them the income of monopolists. Competition, by contrast, drives profits down." - "Some Are More Unequal Than Others", Joseph E. Stiglitz, New York Times 2012-10-26
The article relates how the oligopolists are over and over driving down their costs, including taxes and wages, and increasing their profits.
My thought is that there may be a time when there are no profits to made because few can afford to buy the oligopolists' products and services and there will be insufficient qualified employees because there were insufficient taxes to educate a large number of people.
See "fastest to ruin" quote in "The Invisible Adam Smith".
The article relates how the oligopolists are over and over driving down their costs, including taxes and wages, and increasing their profits.
My thought is that there may be a time when there are no profits to made because few can afford to buy the oligopolists' products and services and there will be insufficient qualified employees because there were insufficient taxes to educate a large number of people.
See "fastest to ruin" quote in "The Invisible Adam Smith".
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Immigration "reform" – follow the money
I've never understood why ALEC and its legislative lackeys are so big on immigration "reform". I thought that the employers of low-skilled workers would want to keep wages as low as they could. A large supply of immigrants guarantees lower wages, and a large supply of illegal immigrants guarantees even lower wages.
An op-ed in today's Star Tribune gave a hint of how one industry really benefits from immigration "reform". Carol Gronfor and three fellow students at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs wrote "Immigration case: Winners and Losers".
"The private prison industry has made billions of dollars by detaining people suspected of illegal immigration under the authority of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The majority of these people have no criminal record."
Ironically, ICE is fighting the recent Arizona law because it has its own record of abuse of suspected immigrants. ICE is ultimately accountable to the people of the United States. Private prisons are only accountable to their shareholders.
Oh, that's somebody else's worry! Think again. One percent of those detained by ICE are U.S. citizens. See "U.S. citizenship no defense against deportation threat", Paul McEnroe, Star Tribune, 2011-11-27.
An op-ed in today's Star Tribune gave a hint of how one industry really benefits from immigration "reform". Carol Gronfor and three fellow students at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs wrote "Immigration case: Winners and Losers".
"The private prison industry has made billions of dollars by detaining people suspected of illegal immigration under the authority of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The majority of these people have no criminal record."
Ironically, ICE is fighting the recent Arizona law because it has its own record of abuse of suspected immigrants. ICE is ultimately accountable to the people of the United States. Private prisons are only accountable to their shareholders.
Oh, that's somebody else's worry! Think again. One percent of those detained by ICE are U.S. citizens. See "U.S. citizenship no defense against deportation threat", Paul McEnroe, Star Tribune, 2011-11-27.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Why so few read Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations", much less understand it
"Had the Scotch cattle been always confined to the market of Scotland, in a country in which the quantity of land, which can be applied to no other purpose but the feeding of cattle, is so great in proportion to what can be applied to other purposes, it is scarce possible, perhaps, that their price could ever have risen so high as to render it profitable to cultivate land for the sake of feeding them."
- page 124 of the Project Gutenberg HTML version
Your homework assignment is to rewrite this in 21st Century English.
- page 124 of the Project Gutenberg HTML version
Your homework assignment is to rewrite this in 21st Century English.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The once and probably not future Republicans
The Coffee Party posted the following on Facebook:
"We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth." - Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America
I added the comment, "Give me that old-time Republican!!"
I might add that "public good" is used 25 times in the Federalist Papers, many times more than "profit" or "corporation", both of which have multiple meanings.
"We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations, but endeavoring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth." - Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America
I added the comment, "Give me that old-time Republican!!"
I might add that "public good" is used 25 times in the Federalist Papers, many times more than "profit" or "corporation", both of which have multiple meanings.
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