The Corp giveth and the Corp taketh away

I thought this parody of Job 1:21 might be original with me.  I found only two references in my first try, both in reference to the Army Corps of Engineers and New Orleans.  When I broadened my search to "the corp gives", I found 17,000 references, some of them with my meaning of Corporation.

I thought of this phrase as I was working with macros in Excel 2011 for the Mac.  Microsoft took away macros in Excel 2008 and put them back in Excel 2011.  But the macros that worked in Excel 2004 don't always work in Excel 2011.

Also, when I plugged my iPod into my Mac, iTunes would automatically be launched.  iTunes would then begin syncing my iPod.  This was true even with OS X Lion.  Then in some version of iTunes the auto load/synch stopped.  I have to start iTunes myself.

This certainly is just an annoyance compared to Job's problems, but one would think the "free market" could provide a more consistent and efficient experience for its customers.

Economics made too simple

As I scanned through Yahoo Finance's main page I came across an interesting title:
"4 Misconceptions About Free Markets", Andrew Beattie, Investopedia, 2011-11-18

Because I have been writing a lot about free markets, I thought I should read this.

His list of misconceptions is
Inflation is Inevitable
Governments Can Save Us
Free Market Means No Regulation
Taxes Don't Affect Output

He writes that inflation is a result of printing presses and is a tax on income. He writes that because inflation lessens the real value of debt, then only government benefits. Oh, others that borrow money don't benefit from inflation? And inflation is not caused by companies raising prices to increase profits? Or workers wanting higher wages? Or…

I won't go into his government section. Suffice it to say that he treats government as some foreign king that rules over us. He forgets that government is us, and we get only as good a government as we choose to elect. He does perpetuate the myth of "the expensive toilet seat". The toilet in question was a specialized toilet for a reconnaissance plane that would be aloft for 24 hours or more.

He thinks that customer feedback is sufficient regulation. Oh, and what customers were giving feedback to factories polluting air and water? And what customer regulation is going to prevent somebody putting a junkyard next to Beattie's house?

He looks as taxes as only something shifted from one group to another. Taxes are really a mixed bag. Without government investment in roads, schools, science, and many other things, much economic development would not have happened. Ironically, his article is available to the whole world at the click of a mouse because the military financed and promoted research into interconnected communications.

Finally, he writes, "The economics of Adam Smith, Fredrik Hayek and Milton Friedman are simple and straightforward…" Well, I haven't read much Hayek but I've read a couple of Friedman's books. These had much too praise, but also a lot of wishful thinking. If you've read any of my excerpts from the "Wealth of Nations" you know that Adam Smith is anything but simple and straightforward.

Customers - the forgotten element in business

"In this new era, Goldman's first duty was to its own bottom line, 
which accrued to the shareholders.  Clients were a means to that end, 
not an end in and of themselves."
- "All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis", Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, p 157

The business mottos "customers first" and "the customer is always 
right" have become "shareholders first" and "the shareholders are always right."