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 trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Friday, December 23, 2016
Adam Smith warned "Don’t trust Donald Trump’s appointees!”
"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." - pages 142-143, Adam Smith, PDF version of "Wealth of Nations" transcribed by the Gutenberg Project. You can download a text copy from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3300.
Who are this "order of men”? Those who live by profit.
Who has Donald Trump appointed to be in his administration? Billionaires who have lived by profit many times over. Is this a populist government? Do pigs fly?
Given my small readership, I doubt you can make much influence. But who knows how much influence you might have by passing this on to your Senators and Representatives?
The above quote originally appeared in “The Invisible Adam Smith”, 2012-10-25 Only 146 have viewed this page to date. I feel like I’m just blowing in the wind. But, Bob Dylan wrote, “The answer is blowin’ in the wind, my friend.”
Who are this "order of men”? Those who live by profit.
Who has Donald Trump appointed to be in his administration? Billionaires who have lived by profit many times over. Is this a populist government? Do pigs fly?
Given my small readership, I doubt you can make much influence. But who knows how much influence you might have by passing this on to your Senators and Representatives?
The above quote originally appeared in “The Invisible Adam Smith”, 2012-10-25 Only 146 have viewed this page to date. I feel like I’m just blowing in the wind. But, Bob Dylan wrote, “The answer is blowin’ in the wind, my friend.”
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Oso, Washington mudslide: sometimes I don’t like to be proven right
I have been wondering if the disastrous mudslide in Oso, Washington was caused by excessive logging. Could it have been only that there was far more rain than normal? My concern was affirmed by Timothy Egan, “A Mudslide, Foretold”, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/opinion/sunday/egan-at-home-when-the-earth-moves.html”, New York Times, 2014-03-29.
Twenty-five years ago, in the same valley, he witnessed a mudslide from over-logging. The hill above Oso had possibly been logged beyond the legal limit.
I just can’t write anything more at the moment about this predictable catastrophe. I’ve written before about short-term profit and few are taking up Pete Seeger’s chorus, “When will they ever learn?”.
Twenty-five years ago, in the same valley, he witnessed a mudslide from over-logging. The hill above Oso had possibly been logged beyond the legal limit.
I just can’t write anything more at the moment about this predictable catastrophe. I’ve written before about short-term profit and few are taking up Pete Seeger’s chorus, “When will they ever learn?”.
Thursday, January 09, 2014
Let's give Gov. Chris Christie some slack
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, is getting a lot of heat and blame for staff members who did really dumb stuff. They caused traffic snarls around Fort Lee as retaliation against a Democratic mayor who didn't support Christie for governor. When Christie asked them directly if they had anything to do with the snarls, they denied it.
Now many people are giving Christie a lot of heat for something he had little control over. Let's give him slack. He is not a king who can command exact obedience. Just as Obama makes statements like keeping your current insurance plan, he must rely on others to give him correct and timely information.
If we expect our leaders to know everything they need to know by their direct experience, they will never be able to lead because they are spending so much time gathering information. Why do you think there are briefing books and executive summaries?
Do we blame the small business owner for the shenanigans of a trusted bookkeeper who siphoned off funds for years? Without trust, any organization large or small would become inefficient with a burden of checks and cross-checks.
Now many people are giving Christie a lot of heat for something he had little control over. Let's give him slack. He is not a king who can command exact obedience. Just as Obama makes statements like keeping your current insurance plan, he must rely on others to give him correct and timely information.
If we expect our leaders to know everything they need to know by their direct experience, they will never be able to lead because they are spending so much time gathering information. Why do you think there are briefing books and executive summaries?
Do we blame the small business owner for the shenanigans of a trusted bookkeeper who siphoned off funds for years? Without trust, any organization large or small would become inefficient with a burden of checks and cross-checks.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Gold is not a good investment
In 1984 I bought a set of gold coins from an investment company that is now defunct. One coin was in a package that showed the coin, the other two were in opaque boxes placed in sealed clear plastic. I've kept them in the house for all this time and decided to sell them yesterday.
I took them to a coin dealer who seemed quite excited to have them and gave me a better price than I had gleaned from a few web sites. This also shows that many people trust others. Each coin was exactly as I received them, one visible and two in boxes that said what they were. I assumed the original dealer had sent me what I ordered, and the buying dealer assumed what I told him.
Today I calculated my rate of return: 3.3375 percent annually! Some good quality stocks return that in annual dividends plus appreciate in value. Many bond funds do even better. Of course, if you could stomach the ups and downs of a company like Apple, your return would have been around 13 percent annually.
Well, the coins are out of the house and won't be stolen or misplaced and I managed to beat the drop in the price of gold by a day. For the dealer's sake, I hope that the price of gold goes up enough soon for him to make some profit.
I took them to a coin dealer who seemed quite excited to have them and gave me a better price than I had gleaned from a few web sites. This also shows that many people trust others. Each coin was exactly as I received them, one visible and two in boxes that said what they were. I assumed the original dealer had sent me what I ordered, and the buying dealer assumed what I told him.
Today I calculated my rate of return: 3.3375 percent annually! Some good quality stocks return that in annual dividends plus appreciate in value. Many bond funds do even better. Of course, if you could stomach the ups and downs of a company like Apple, your return would have been around 13 percent annually.
Well, the coins are out of the house and won't be stolen or misplaced and I managed to beat the drop in the price of gold by a day. For the dealer's sake, I hope that the price of gold goes up enough soon for him to make some profit.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Ideology, compromise, and the big picture
Today was another publication day for me. My letter to the editor of the Star Tribune was published as "Political Discourse: You want compromise? Are you sure about that?"
Ross Douthat also wrote a blog about politicians jockeying for position rather than trying to solve problems: "The Roots of Overheated Rhetoric".
He does take a good look at bigger issues than just who believes what on some "little" issue. However, I take issue with one of his statements: "a protective government ready to save us from our foolishness when the economy goes bad".
Who is this "we" in "our foolishness"? Granted, many of "us" overextended ourselves with inducements from many sellers of this and that; a little reflection could have kept our credit card bills small. On the other hand, credit was extended by "trusted advisors" who few had any reason not to trust. When the mortgage officer at "Neighborhood Bank and Trust" tells us we can afford the mortgage, few of us have the expertise to ask the right questions. And when "Oversize Bank and Trust" of Wall Street tells Neighborhood Bank and Trust that it will buy Neighborhood's mortgages, Neighborhood feels it can and should sell as many mortgages as it possible. The whole problem was out of "our" hands.
Well, maybe not completely. Enough of us believed the rhetoric about "getting the government out of the way", not realizing less government oversight meant less corporate oversight of the long-term effects of its short-term thinking.
Ross Douthat also wrote a blog about politicians jockeying for position rather than trying to solve problems: "The Roots of Overheated Rhetoric".
He does take a good look at bigger issues than just who believes what on some "little" issue. However, I take issue with one of his statements: "a protective government ready to save us from our foolishness when the economy goes bad".
Who is this "we" in "our foolishness"? Granted, many of "us" overextended ourselves with inducements from many sellers of this and that; a little reflection could have kept our credit card bills small. On the other hand, credit was extended by "trusted advisors" who few had any reason not to trust. When the mortgage officer at "Neighborhood Bank and Trust" tells us we can afford the mortgage, few of us have the expertise to ask the right questions. And when "Oversize Bank and Trust" of Wall Street tells Neighborhood Bank and Trust that it will buy Neighborhood's mortgages, Neighborhood feels it can and should sell as many mortgages as it possible. The whole problem was out of "our" hands.
Well, maybe not completely. Enough of us believed the rhetoric about "getting the government out of the way", not realizing less government oversight meant less corporate oversight of the long-term effects of its short-term thinking.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)