Posted on 01/25/2024 5:15:11 AM PST by FarCenter
Adam Smith believed in tariffs when trading partners refused to drop theirs.
The idea you can theoretically know what "optimal" results are, is laughable.
The “free market” seems to have morphed into “lots and lots of socialism” — and we see nothing but that all around us.
And, yeah, that stuff is failing.
And I guess the lesson they expect us to learn from this is that free markets are bad and that the solution is “lots and lots of socialism”.
I believe in a blocked currency such as India has.
Central planning is failing in China.
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Hyper-central planning is failing. We have “central planning” here in the US to some degree. There will always be a “sweet spot” for markets and government incentives/regulations. The real problem with the US is culture; and right now US culture seems to be lovin’ gov’t handouts.
There is also the border/shore foreign ownership blocking provision of the Mexican constitution.
If Canada and the US had similar provisions, the price of housing in Toronto, Vancouver, NYC, Boston, SF and LA would be much less.
We need to define our terms. I think we agree.
What is best is a "sweet spot" as you have said, where individuals know the rules, and can rely on the rule of law to make long term plans.
Yes, the culture of handouts has been pushed for decades, since about the mid 1960s, I would say.
“Gov’t handouts”
We need real property and income tax caps to protect the middle class (those having incomes in the range of full-time federal employees).
The federal income tax on higher incomes needs to be dedicated to the payoff of federal debt.
The ability of Democrats to buy votes must be constrained.
Economic systems and social contracts are tied. Capitalism doesn’t work in a command economy because it’s too easy to use force to corrupt it to benefit one group or another.
Social contracts in the West are breaking badly. It’s gone from ‘each of us has a duty to play fair’ to ‘not my circus, not my monkeys’
An example. My cable provider for decades sent techs out who provided a service and also added assistance - being pleasant, hooking up a sound bar, saying ‘a tip isn’t necessary etc. The last three techs (over a period of less than three years) were ‘rough’... and each of them - as a “bid for a tip” offered a ‘free’ extra remote for my TVs. In short, they were offering what didn’t belong to them - at the company’s expense and gave minimum service. That’s a sea change. I’m seeing that in other companies too. Culture and economic system function in sync... or fail.
“Free market” is not really achieved anywhere, due to government controls and regulations
I will argue that the President Xi ordered central planning is in fact succeeding famously.
To create the envisioned return to pure communism, President Xi is embarked on a program to destroy all evidence of capitalism on Chinese society. This involves totally wrecking the existing economy and social structure and then rebuilding from scratch what he has termed China Socialism.
The CCP implemented Red Lines on the banks that destroyed the real-estate development on which the whole economy and regional governments depended. Very recently, the new auto industry manufacturing industry was similarly destroyed. All foreign business is either leaving or has left. Retail businesses in the major citiees have shut their doors. Manufacturing is also ceased. Factories closed.
The resulting unemployment is incalculable. All Government economic numbers are just bogus and totally without foundation.
If China and the CCP actually survive, the result is going to be a China that is unrecognizable
‘not my circus, not my monkeys’
That attitude comes from diversity.
True - sometimes iron and clay don’t mix.
Everybody Wang Chuanfu Tonight!
True - sometimes iron and clay don’t mix. And Biden is making sure we don’t have time to assilate new citizens. It’s Biden and the democrats who are destroying the country.
The prices of the apartments was and is out of the reach of most prospective buyers.
Many buildings were built at a time when Chinese labor was cheaper.
The basis was build using $1/hour labor and sell when buyer incomes are $9/hour.
Now the labor is $6/hour and the people making $9/hour worry about being replaced by Indian labor.
Also, urban land in China is owned by the government. People would be buying apartments with say 15-30 years left on the ground lease. That is not an attractive option for a couple in their 30s.
This election should be interesting.
How do you say ‘Have you mailed in your ballot?’ in Lao?
Uzbek? Pashtun? Dari?
Diversity can cause problems.
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