The awkward period is over!
Your point regarding human nature is valid, but far too limited!
It is also "human nature" to try to get the most out of any position. Thus, corruption seeps into the untility formula which leads to those responsible making decisions based not on the utility of a "general welfare" concern, but instead, on the amount of money that will line thier own pockets!
Exactly correct.
I would not be surprised to see New London reconsider its shortsighted decision.
Does anyone know if there are plans for a boycott of New London?
"If you rely on a free market instead, you almost always end up with either too many apples and not enough oranges, or vice versa, and the extra quantity goes to waste, benefiting no-one."
While I agree with your conclusion that this will ultimately fail, I disagree with your logic. You see, communisism is the system that is inefficient producing too much of the wrong product and too little of the right product. This is a fact inherent to centralized planning. The planners simply do not have sufficient information to forcast demand since they do not have the market to provide crucial pricing informatioin.
That said, your conclusion should be that the centralized planning will produce too much of the wrong product and will collapse from inefficiency. You are also correct though in determining that most folks will work harder for themselves than for the central government.
Did you write this?
Incorrect.
Only the free market gives you a rational price system to clear markets.
well, sir, I like the way your posting ends but I take exception to your initial premise based on your "equation"... and the conclusion that Communism, or Fascism or any sort of totalitarian, state-controlled economy is more efficient than a free-market economy.
GIGO - Garbage in; Garbage out.
or basic biology, K-101 (as in kindergarten)... Fish swim, Man can swim; Man is Fish.
By no means am I the definitive expert on the above. After all, you can dismiss my above as mere opinion from a layperson. Others far more qualified have written and proven the above; see Adam Smith, or Fredrick Hayek; Milton Friedman or Thomas Sowell for thoughts eminently more qualified than mine on this.
But you're on the right track, i'll grant u that...
Congressman Billybob
This will be the touchstone of the revolt against these attacks by the Court. We will have to force the congress to stop the Court from killing our American dream.
If we don't, this great experiment in self government is over.
You were told to go figure it out for yourself. Well, that's an excellent job you did! I am self-taught too, and I can't think when I've done such splendid figuring.
I am going to read this to my kid over breakfast. She gets the prime cut of FR every morning.
However, when I read this to the kid, I will have to omit the part about Russians getting what they deserved, since some of her ancestors..."left skin on the sidewalk" there. Bodies in the river would be more nearly accurate. For the crime of having a higher education. The Russian people did not deserve Communist oppression. Most were in no position to fight it. Most, indeed, took it in the back.
Boycotting New London won't help. That'll just hurt other citizens in that town who had nothing to do with the problem.
The only real solution is to get states to pass legislation or even constitutional amendments to prevent eminent domain from being used in private development.
Sadly, a member of my family is one of those "greedy developers" who gets cities to use e/d for taking land for development. We've had many screaming matches over the years about it. His response? "Hey, it's legal."
And THAT is what we have to change. As long as it's legal, it'll keep happening and nothing else we do will stop it.
You said,
"You get a much higher utility out of your apples and oranges when a central authority decides how many of each should be produced. If you rely on a free market instead, you almost always end up with either too many apples and not enough oranges, or vice versa, and the extra quantity goes to waste, benefiting no-one."
But that "conclusion" is based on the ASSUMPTION that the "...central authority..." actually KNOWS -- in advance -- the exact numbers of apples and oranges that WILL be needed.
In the real world, the naive belief that such "fortune-telling" might "really" work is generally attributed to gullible, wish-prone children.
And to "liberals"...
I don't know if I agree with that. True they are wrong and unlikely to be evil but, I see no reason to assume they are not corrupt or greedy.