In Hell Where They Already Have It
Douglas Wilson
Blog&Mablog
INTRODUCTION:
The title comes from an old line of Ronald Reagan’s, where he said, “Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it.”
Let that suffice for a rudimentary introduction, setting both tone and direction.
SO LAY THE AXE AT THE ROOT:
Socialism is, at root, not a math problem. It is an envy problem, with math splotches on the skin. Socialism is not an economics problem. It is an envy problem, with a symptomatic swelling of the economic lymph nodes. Socialism is not a political problem. It is an envy problem, with a few skirmishes over who has to pay for the political motorized wheel chair. Those subsidized wheelchairs are advertised, incidentally, on Fox News, bastion of opposition to government handouts.
Socialism is, at the heart, a disease of the heart. It is a spiritual problem.
As such, the problem cannot be solved in a math class, or a course in sound economics. The problem can be solved there in theory, on paper (“See? You cannot spend what you have not earned.” “Ooohhh . . .”). But solving the problem on paper is not the same thing as solving the problem.
Upton Sinclair, an outspoken socialist, at least understood the principle—or at least when it applied to others. He said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
Isn’t that the way?
Showing posts with label Free Markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Free Markets. Show all posts
Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Saturday, 14 April 2018
Conspiracies Against Public Citizens
The Perpetual Threat Of Robber Barons
We have often pointed out that businesses ought to be treated with perpetual scepticism. Never trust a group of businessmen alone in a room together. They will often quickly end up scheming how to control the market, create a de facto monopoly, and plunder their customers and the market in general. This was Adam Smith's view--as so many on the right often forget.
We are now seeing just such a conspiracy (whether formal or informal) to control the market and the economy for IT services, particularly consumer IT services.
We have a couple of articles to run on this theme. The first is from James Delingpole.
Smash Big Tech’s Robber Baron Cartel Now!
James Delingpole
Breitbart News
The thing that puts me off libertarianism is the “more libertarian than thou” game so many libertarians like to play. “What? You mean you don’t believe that enterprising heroin dealers should be free to ply their wares in kindergartens so as to catch ’em while they’re young? You’re not a real libertarian. You’re a fascist control freak…”
All right, I exaggerate. But the latest libertarian test is very real – and is the subject of a big falling out between two National Review writers Victor Davis Hanson and Kevin Williamson. See where you stand.
Thursday, 16 March 2017
When Scepticism is Healthy
Fraud, Corruption and Business Interests
Adam Smith, the Scottish "free-trader" was deeply sceptical about the ethics of capitalists, or businessmen, or merchants. Not that Smith fell into the ideological trap into which Marx and Engels and subsequent Marxist ideologues fell headlong. With herd instinct, the Marxists trumpeted the moral purity of the proletariat, the working class, while they excoriated the capitalist class. This euphoria over the moral purity of the proletariat lasted until Marxists assumed control of the regime. Then, overnight, the prols became cannon fodder, subject to oppression and torture.
Smith was more influenced by his Christian heritage. He believed in the ubiquity of sin, greed, and selfishness, throughout all mankind, not just the capitalist or merchant classes. His "solution" to the greed, which led to lying, deceit, manipulation, and extortion amongst businessmen and people of property, was to recognize that the free market--the free exchange of goods and services--was a wonderful discipline upon capitalists. The reality is that capitalists hate competition for themselves, but wish it to be the grand reality for everyone else. Smith said that if you left capitalists alone in a room for twenty minutes they would have come up with all sorts of schemes to reduce competition, control supply, and jack up prices. In other words, they would quickly come up with schemes to defraud. If the free market were to work properly, Smith knew that fraud in all its forms must be policed and punished.
His advice was never to trust a man of property further than you could throw him. Self regulation of capitalist groups would always be a joke.
Adam Smith, the Scottish "free-trader" was deeply sceptical about the ethics of capitalists, or businessmen, or merchants. Not that Smith fell into the ideological trap into which Marx and Engels and subsequent Marxist ideologues fell headlong. With herd instinct, the Marxists trumpeted the moral purity of the proletariat, the working class, while they excoriated the capitalist class. This euphoria over the moral purity of the proletariat lasted until Marxists assumed control of the regime. Then, overnight, the prols became cannon fodder, subject to oppression and torture.
Smith was more influenced by his Christian heritage. He believed in the ubiquity of sin, greed, and selfishness, throughout all mankind, not just the capitalist or merchant classes. His "solution" to the greed, which led to lying, deceit, manipulation, and extortion amongst businessmen and people of property, was to recognize that the free market--the free exchange of goods and services--was a wonderful discipline upon capitalists. The reality is that capitalists hate competition for themselves, but wish it to be the grand reality for everyone else. Smith said that if you left capitalists alone in a room for twenty minutes they would have come up with all sorts of schemes to reduce competition, control supply, and jack up prices. In other words, they would quickly come up with schemes to defraud. If the free market were to work properly, Smith knew that fraud in all its forms must be policed and punished.
His advice was never to trust a man of property further than you could throw him. Self regulation of capitalist groups would always be a joke.
Saturday, 10 December 2016
The First Big Failure of Trumppence
First Strike Against Thousands of US Businesses
Incoming Fire From The Trump-Pence Administration
The Free Market Has Failed
Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:00 amThe new official line of the incoming Trump-Pence administration is that the free market has failed, and we need their government-imposed solutions instead:
On Thursday, as he toured the factory floor here to take credit for saving roughly half of the 2,000 jobs Indiana stood to lose, Mr. Trump sent a message to other businesses as well that he intended to follow through on his pledges to impose stiff tariffs on imports from companies that move production overseas and ship their products back to the United States.
“This is the way it’s going to be,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with The New York Times. “Corporate America is going to have to understand that we have to take care of our workers also.”
. . . .
“I don’t want them moving out of the country without consequences,” Mr. Trump said, even if that means angering the free-market-oriented Republicans he beat in the primaries but will have to work with on Capitol Hill.
“The free market has been sorting it out and America’s been losing,” Mr. Pence added, as Mr. Trump interjected, “Every time, every time.”
What “free market” is that, Mr. Pence?
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
The Terminator and the Rats
Counting the Cost
Donald (The Terminator) Trump is shaping up to lose handsomely to Hillary Clinton, arguably the most mendacious carpetbagger yet to stand for the US Presidency. Faced with falling poll numbers, the Terminator has seen the need to bloviate more volcanically than usual (which is saying something). This from the Wall Street Journal:
Now, not so much.
Donald (The Terminator) Trump is shaping up to lose handsomely to Hillary Clinton, arguably the most mendacious carpetbagger yet to stand for the US Presidency. Faced with falling poll numbers, the Terminator has seen the need to bloviate more volcanically than usual (which is saying something). This from the Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump offered a starkly protectionist view on trade policy, pledging for the first time on Tuesday to scrap the current North American Free Trade Agreement while saying he would label China a currency manipulator and kill America’s involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “I’m going to tell our NAFTA partners that I intend to immediately renegotiate the terms of that agreement to get a better deal for our workers,” said Mr. Trump, adding that if they don’t agree to favorable terms, “America intends to withdraw from the deal.” [Hat Tip: Kiwiblog]This latest eructation shows all the signs of a showman looking for ratings. Once upon a time during the primary season, if the Terminator had come out with such a declaration, the media would have fawned, celebrated, and danced nativist jigs. It was good for their ratings--and that's all that mattered.
Now, not so much.
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
The End of the Beginning for the Pacific?
Spare A Thought for Jane
In New Zealand we were greeted yesterday with the news that agreement had been reached in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations. Twelve Pacific rim countries have signed a deal which will effectively remove all tariff barriers on almost everything. Whilst we have not read the fine print, this seems like a significant deal.
But we pause to spare a thought for law professor, Jane Kelsey and her rag tag mob of sheep.
In New Zealand we were greeted yesterday with the news that agreement had been reached in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations. Twelve Pacific rim countries have signed a deal which will effectively remove all tariff barriers on almost everything. Whilst we have not read the fine print, this seems like a significant deal.
But we pause to spare a thought for law professor, Jane Kelsey and her rag tag mob of sheep.
Friday, 21 August 2015
Corrections and Returns to Sanity
Roiling Dairy Industry
In Australia, the mining industry is in crisis. Well, no, not really. It's in a cyclical downturn which has been seen so often, it's boring. Anyone who thinks that industries do not cycle up and down has blinkered himself to centuries of data.
Every year ten pupil (that's fourth form, folks) learns that markets--where goods and services are bought and sold--are subject to supply and demand. If the supply increases, prices will fall as demand becomes satiated, and tails off. That "economic law" cannot be broken. Often raw commodities face this market reality more than other goods. There is very little "value add" possible in raw commodities--not without substantial investment in processing and manufacturing--which often only serves to makes the proposition even more risky.
In New Zealand, we are facing the same market reality now in dairy. Milk prices have slumped. There is an over-supply of milk on the world market. Too many cows, too many litres of milk being produced. The result is falling milk prices. In time this will correct as marginal producers go out of business, unable to make profits in a low-price environment. Supply will fall. Prices will stabilise then begin to rise again. It is brutal. There are many sad cases down at the farmgate to come to light. But it is the real world.
In Australia, the mining industry is in crisis. Well, no, not really. It's in a cyclical downturn which has been seen so often, it's boring. Anyone who thinks that industries do not cycle up and down has blinkered himself to centuries of data.
Every year ten pupil (that's fourth form, folks) learns that markets--where goods and services are bought and sold--are subject to supply and demand. If the supply increases, prices will fall as demand becomes satiated, and tails off. That "economic law" cannot be broken. Often raw commodities face this market reality more than other goods. There is very little "value add" possible in raw commodities--not without substantial investment in processing and manufacturing--which often only serves to makes the proposition even more risky.
In New Zealand, we are facing the same market reality now in dairy. Milk prices have slumped. There is an over-supply of milk on the world market. Too many cows, too many litres of milk being produced. The result is falling milk prices. In time this will correct as marginal producers go out of business, unable to make profits in a low-price environment. Supply will fall. Prices will stabilise then begin to rise again. It is brutal. There are many sad cases down at the farmgate to come to light. But it is the real world.
Friday, 23 January 2015
Uber in New Zealand
Mr Plod and The Free Market
Human interaction in the marketplace is a fascinating study. At the point of exchange, where a buyer and seller exchange property, all kinds of evil can be present: deceit, fraud, dissembling, theft, passing off, price gouging, refusal to pay--the list goes on. Given our common propensity to rape and pillage, how could a universal behaviour such as buying and selling ever be kept relatively honest?
The statist answer is--no prize for guessing--the state's rules and regulations, restrictions and permits will keep the market place fair and honest. The libertarian's answer is a transparent marketplace itself keeps the participants honest.
The libertarian belief in the regulating and moderating power of the marketplace really turns around human prudence and freely available information. Exploiters and bad-faith traders become known and exposed. No-one except fools want to deal with them. Both buyer and seller have a duty of care to themselves. Market information about participants--good and bad--means that bad traders are driven out; good (that is, ethical) traders become more prosperous. There are sanctions available in a free market, but they are largely by means of claims in a civil court. If one "rips off" another, they are liable to civil action where the court may order redress and restitution.
Between the two poles of statism and libertarianism, the market manages to trundle along. Every so often there is a paradigm shift which shakes up all the participants in a particular industry. Right now, one example is the taxi industry versus Uber. The interplay between the transactors and the marketplace and the authorities is fascinating--and predictable. Rodney Hide tells us how it is playing out in New Zealand:
Human interaction in the marketplace is a fascinating study. At the point of exchange, where a buyer and seller exchange property, all kinds of evil can be present: deceit, fraud, dissembling, theft, passing off, price gouging, refusal to pay--the list goes on. Given our common propensity to rape and pillage, how could a universal behaviour such as buying and selling ever be kept relatively honest?
The statist answer is--no prize for guessing--the state's rules and regulations, restrictions and permits will keep the market place fair and honest. The libertarian's answer is a transparent marketplace itself keeps the participants honest.
The libertarian belief in the regulating and moderating power of the marketplace really turns around human prudence and freely available information. Exploiters and bad-faith traders become known and exposed. No-one except fools want to deal with them. Both buyer and seller have a duty of care to themselves. Market information about participants--good and bad--means that bad traders are driven out; good (that is, ethical) traders become more prosperous. There are sanctions available in a free market, but they are largely by means of claims in a civil court. If one "rips off" another, they are liable to civil action where the court may order redress and restitution.
Between the two poles of statism and libertarianism, the market manages to trundle along. Every so often there is a paradigm shift which shakes up all the participants in a particular industry. Right now, one example is the taxi industry versus Uber. The interplay between the transactors and the marketplace and the authorities is fascinating--and predictable. Rodney Hide tells us how it is playing out in New Zealand:
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Making Matters Much Worse
When Solutions are the Problem
One of the reasons Western capitalist societies are struggling is due to a bizarre approach to supply and demand. We say, "one" of the reasons, for there are legion. Nonetheless the deliberate skewing of supply and demand is a significant impediment.
Let's consider some of the ways the productive economy is inhibited and made inefficient by inappropriate interference with the buying and selling, investing and producing populace.
The first is a relentless compulsion to restrict the supply of resources useful for constructing and delivering goods and services. This is largely driven by the notion that natural resources are finite and are running out. Oil, gas, energy, land, timber, coal, steel, water, etc. are all limited. Consumption will reduce their supply. Therefore, it is prudent to restrict their use and application to make them last longer. But rumours of the disappearance of natural resources are greatly exaggerated. Remember the shrill, siren calls of the looming, dooming devastation of "peak-oil" about to wreak havoc upon us all. The Sirens began shrieking in around 2008; "peak-oil" was supposed to hit in 2012. Now, world oil supply is such that we presently have a glut. Go figure.
A second inhibition comes from the various ideologies of Greenism.
One of the reasons Western capitalist societies are struggling is due to a bizarre approach to supply and demand. We say, "one" of the reasons, for there are legion. Nonetheless the deliberate skewing of supply and demand is a significant impediment.
Let's consider some of the ways the productive economy is inhibited and made inefficient by inappropriate interference with the buying and selling, investing and producing populace.
The first is a relentless compulsion to restrict the supply of resources useful for constructing and delivering goods and services. This is largely driven by the notion that natural resources are finite and are running out. Oil, gas, energy, land, timber, coal, steel, water, etc. are all limited. Consumption will reduce their supply. Therefore, it is prudent to restrict their use and application to make them last longer. But rumours of the disappearance of natural resources are greatly exaggerated. Remember the shrill, siren calls of the looming, dooming devastation of "peak-oil" about to wreak havoc upon us all. The Sirens began shrieking in around 2008; "peak-oil" was supposed to hit in 2012. Now, world oil supply is such that we presently have a glut. Go figure.
A second inhibition comes from the various ideologies of Greenism.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
European Progress
Breathing the Free Air
At this blog, we are all free-traders. If Johnny Appleseed wants to sell his apples to customers in the Orange Free State, the respective states have no warrant to interfere with the property rights of Johnny nor his customers. Secondly, free trade has a long history of demonstrating that, whilst economic dislocation might initially occur, in the longer term the population of poorer countries benefit from the opportunity to export to wealthier nations. Free trade is one of the most effective modes of "foreign aid" ever seen--much more effective than dumping lashings of money upon less developed countries in some top-down, bureaucratic, government driven "we know best" model. Thirdly, free mutual trade is one of the most effective inoculations against the deadly virus of nationalism.
To this end, we are heartened that finally the European Common Agricultural Policy ("CAP") is having its last rites read. This from the NZ Herald:
At this blog, we are all free-traders. If Johnny Appleseed wants to sell his apples to customers in the Orange Free State, the respective states have no warrant to interfere with the property rights of Johnny nor his customers. Secondly, free trade has a long history of demonstrating that, whilst economic dislocation might initially occur, in the longer term the population of poorer countries benefit from the opportunity to export to wealthier nations. Free trade is one of the most effective modes of "foreign aid" ever seen--much more effective than dumping lashings of money upon less developed countries in some top-down, bureaucratic, government driven "we know best" model. Thirdly, free mutual trade is one of the most effective inoculations against the deadly virus of nationalism.
To this end, we are heartened that finally the European Common Agricultural Policy ("CAP") is having its last rites read. This from the NZ Herald:
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Basic Economics
What God has Given, Let Not Man Wrest
The Pope has come out recently, criticizing the market economy. His public ruminations are, to put it baldly, silly. He has done our Lord and the Christian faith no honour in this instance.
To go to the heart of the problem, the Law of the Living God grants ownership and protection to the property of those made in His image--aka, human beings. He prohibits us stealing the property of others (the Eighth Commandment). He also prohibits us coveting what others have (the Tenth Commandment). These two commandments, amongst other things, exclude (in the sense of condemning) the rulers, powers, and authorities intruding into the "stuff" of citizens, taking what they see fit, and enforcing distribution to others.
In a nutshell, these two commandments prohibit all forms of socialism--that horribly pagan idea which proposes that society (the community, the governing authorities, the rich and powerful, the Collective, the Politburo, etc.) is the ultimate and final owner of everything and that private ownership rights are always only at the final pleasure of the Collective. In his decrying the market economy, the Pope was siding with socialistic doctrines whereby some other authority (state, church, "society") has prior ownership of Mrs Smith's garden spade, and can--for whatever reason or pretext--requisition it.
The Pope has come out recently, criticizing the market economy. His public ruminations are, to put it baldly, silly. He has done our Lord and the Christian faith no honour in this instance.
To go to the heart of the problem, the Law of the Living God grants ownership and protection to the property of those made in His image--aka, human beings. He prohibits us stealing the property of others (the Eighth Commandment). He also prohibits us coveting what others have (the Tenth Commandment). These two commandments, amongst other things, exclude (in the sense of condemning) the rulers, powers, and authorities intruding into the "stuff" of citizens, taking what they see fit, and enforcing distribution to others.
In a nutshell, these two commandments prohibit all forms of socialism--that horribly pagan idea which proposes that society (the community, the governing authorities, the rich and powerful, the Collective, the Politburo, etc.) is the ultimate and final owner of everything and that private ownership rights are always only at the final pleasure of the Collective. In his decrying the market economy, the Pope was siding with socialistic doctrines whereby some other authority (state, church, "society") has prior ownership of Mrs Smith's garden spade, and can--for whatever reason or pretext--requisition it.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Crass and Crasser
Ignorance Extraordinaire
The economic ignorance and illiteracy of the Left wing is well documented. All heat and no light. Consider the following piece of antediluvian ignorance from a Labour candidate.
The back-story is the the government's proposal to build some new government schools using a private/public partnership approach. This erudite Labour candidate shows she can jump right to the chase, putting front and centre the ignorant prejudice which bedevils the Left when it comes to economic reality. No wonder they struggle for electoral traction. There are few things more telling than this post.
It is always the assumptions which kill in these matters.
The economic ignorance and illiteracy of the Left wing is well documented. All heat and no light. Consider the following piece of antediluvian ignorance from a Labour candidate.
The back-story is the the government's proposal to build some new government schools using a private/public partnership approach. This erudite Labour candidate shows she can jump right to the chase, putting front and centre the ignorant prejudice which bedevils the Left when it comes to economic reality. No wonder they struggle for electoral traction. There are few things more telling than this post.
It is always the assumptions which kill in these matters.
Friday, 7 February 2014
End of an Age of Entitlement in Australia
Personal Responsibility Beckoning
We posted recently about wholesome progress being made in Australia under the Abbott government to end corporate welfare. The collusion of between business and government is never pretty and always represents a corrupt rort whereby the owners of favoured businesses get to be enriched at the expense of the taxpayer. (The same may be said of the collusion between unions and governments, but that's a matter for another day.)
Treasurer Joe Hockey is proving to be up to the challenge, according to a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by Mark Kenny, entitled "Hockey Calls an End to 'Age of Entitlement'".
We posted recently about wholesome progress being made in Australia under the Abbott government to end corporate welfare. The collusion of between business and government is never pretty and always represents a corrupt rort whereby the owners of favoured businesses get to be enriched at the expense of the taxpayer. (The same may be said of the collusion between unions and governments, but that's a matter for another day.)
Treasurer Joe Hockey is proving to be up to the challenge, according to a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by Mark Kenny, entitled "Hockey Calls an End to 'Age of Entitlement'".
Treasurer Joe Hockey has bluntly warned Australians that the days of governments saving businesses and jobs had passed, telling them, ''the age of entitlement is over, and the age of personal responsibility has begun''. The tough comments come as the government braces for further requests for public funds from big employers such as Toyota, and as some within the federal cabinet seek more help for farmers.
Monday, 3 February 2014
Corporate Welfare No Longer
No Taxpayers' Oil for Squeaky Wheels
There are few things more risible and contemptible than corporate welfare. The idea of the government using taxpayers to subsidise businesses is obnoxious on a number of counts, not the least of which is that the many are made to pay in order to make a few anointed ones wealthy. The bottom line always is that if a business cannot compete and win market favour by virtue of the quality and price of its goods and services, it deserves to go out of business. It is far better that it does. Subsidised businesses are always relatively inefficient businesses. To the extent they are subsidised, consumer/taxpayers are being overcharged in one form or another.
We in New Zealand are very familiar with corporate welfare. Older citizens here grew up with the nostrum that farmers were the backbone of the New Zealand economy. The taxpayer, we were told, had to help the farmer make a dollar (or pound, as it was in those days) otherwise all of us would be sold into penury. Before long taxpayers worked out that even if it were true that farmers were the backbone of the NZ economy, it was also true that taxpayers were the flesh and sinew of the farmer and that the whole sham was a massive, national Ponzi scheme.
There are few things more risible and contemptible than corporate welfare. The idea of the government using taxpayers to subsidise businesses is obnoxious on a number of counts, not the least of which is that the many are made to pay in order to make a few anointed ones wealthy. The bottom line always is that if a business cannot compete and win market favour by virtue of the quality and price of its goods and services, it deserves to go out of business. It is far better that it does. Subsidised businesses are always relatively inefficient businesses. To the extent they are subsidised, consumer/taxpayers are being overcharged in one form or another.
We in New Zealand are very familiar with corporate welfare. Older citizens here grew up with the nostrum that farmers were the backbone of the New Zealand economy. The taxpayer, we were told, had to help the farmer make a dollar (or pound, as it was in those days) otherwise all of us would be sold into penury. Before long taxpayers worked out that even if it were true that farmers were the backbone of the NZ economy, it was also true that taxpayers were the flesh and sinew of the farmer and that the whole sham was a massive, national Ponzi scheme.
Friday, 31 January 2014
Douglas Wilson's Letter From Moscow
Parable of the Ten Investment Portfolios
Allow me to say a few things in this second paragraph that will seem outrageous to some, while doing so in the hope that you will then allow me to explain myself. I have argued repeatedly that free grace creates free men, and that free men are the only ones who can create free markets. Free markets are God’s design for us. If you don’t love the idea of free markets, you don’t love Jesus rightly. Christian discipleship requires an understanding of, and deep love for, economic liberty.
So why invoke Jesus by name? Why bring Him into it?
Friday, 9 August 2013
The Real Deal
Can Fonterra Prove Up?
The bureaucrats and tourism industry big-wallahs dreamed up a marketing slogan for New Zealand Inc: "One Hundred Percent Pure". Wow. That sounded good. Perception is reality to narcissistic marketers. So the slogan became a mantra. It was a most stupid move.
The slogan could only be taken seriously if it were regarded as hyperbole. If it were a mere exaggeration for effect, no-one could complain. But as a statement of a literal standard one has to live up to it is an impossible millstone around the neck. The brute reality is that no-one and nothing in this life is one hundred percent pure (whatever that might mean). Experimental chemists, working in the cleanest laboratory environments able to be achieved, are not infrequently frustrated by impurities messing up experiments. No "100% Pure" there. And if not there, not anywhere. Certainly not when it comes to agricultural products, such as milk.
When it comes to the marketing slogan, "NZ--100% Pure" we are guilty of engaging in deceptive and misleading behaviour. There will always be markets, customers, and general idiots to take the slogan as literal truth, not hyperbole. We have created a rod for our own backs and our stupidity is justly punished every time the rod whips through the air.
Stupid slogans aside, it is worthwhile considering the broader context of the Fonterra botulism scandal.
The bureaucrats and tourism industry big-wallahs dreamed up a marketing slogan for New Zealand Inc: "One Hundred Percent Pure". Wow. That sounded good. Perception is reality to narcissistic marketers. So the slogan became a mantra. It was a most stupid move.
The slogan could only be taken seriously if it were regarded as hyperbole. If it were a mere exaggeration for effect, no-one could complain. But as a statement of a literal standard one has to live up to it is an impossible millstone around the neck. The brute reality is that no-one and nothing in this life is one hundred percent pure (whatever that might mean). Experimental chemists, working in the cleanest laboratory environments able to be achieved, are not infrequently frustrated by impurities messing up experiments. No "100% Pure" there. And if not there, not anywhere. Certainly not when it comes to agricultural products, such as milk.
When it comes to the marketing slogan, "NZ--100% Pure" we are guilty of engaging in deceptive and misleading behaviour. There will always be markets, customers, and general idiots to take the slogan as literal truth, not hyperbole. We have created a rod for our own backs and our stupidity is justly punished every time the rod whips through the air.
Stupid slogans aside, it is worthwhile considering the broader context of the Fonterra botulism scandal.
Monday, 5 August 2013
Douglas Wilson's Letter From America
Book of the Month/August
I owe a lot to George Gilder, and with his release of Knowledge and Power, that debt has increased significantly.
Decades ago, I first read Sexual Suicide, a book that later became Men and Marriage, and which I have read again several times in that form. I was greatly influenced by Wealth and Poverty when it first came out, and have enjoyed other books as well, the most recent example being The Israel Test. This book is a worthy companion to the others in a long line of worthy companions.
There are three things I want to say about this book, and then I will leave you to get your own copy.
The first is that Gilder is a contrarian, but a sane one. He is what any sane person would look like in an insane world, provided that sane person had the guts to say what he thought out loud. The book provides kind of a grab bag of examples. He has a delightful chapter on the need for insider trading, for instance. By outlawing insider trading, we are requiring people to trade stupidly, blindly.
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Free Trade Risks
Negotiations With an "Exceptional" Nation
It's almost axiomatic that business owners want control of not just their customers, but of their competitors. If given a choice as to whether they would prefer restrictions upon their competitors or open market competition, most business owners would choose a restricted market for their competitors, whilst they would want the government to preserve their unlimited license to do as they wish. Only an honest few would vote for full open-market competition for all, including themselves, because philosophically they believe it is better for all in the long run.
Given this sociological reality amongst business owners it is appropriate that we should approach any "free trade" agreement with a great deal of caution. Now, we do not mean to imply for a nano-second that we stand with the Greens on this matter. That political party is pathologically opposed to free trade of any sort for reasons that make sense to it alone. But caution is required because free trade negotiations often become a cover for regulation, protection, and trade barriers.
It's almost axiomatic that business owners want control of not just their customers, but of their competitors. If given a choice as to whether they would prefer restrictions upon their competitors or open market competition, most business owners would choose a restricted market for their competitors, whilst they would want the government to preserve their unlimited license to do as they wish. Only an honest few would vote for full open-market competition for all, including themselves, because philosophically they believe it is better for all in the long run.
Given this sociological reality amongst business owners it is appropriate that we should approach any "free trade" agreement with a great deal of caution. Now, we do not mean to imply for a nano-second that we stand with the Greens on this matter. That political party is pathologically opposed to free trade of any sort for reasons that make sense to it alone. But caution is required because free trade negotiations often become a cover for regulation, protection, and trade barriers.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
The Last Dodo
RIP, "Think Big"
In the early 1980's the government in New Zealand decided that it was smarter than the average joe when it came to business. The government was going to pick some economic winners. The policy was dubbed "Think Big" which had more than a communist, central-economic-planning ring to it.
It had been the oil shocks jolted the government into action. Borrowing vast sums of money on world money markets, the government persuaded lenders that huge government sponsored and endorsed energy projects were pretty much risk free. Whilst they could never stack up on a risk/return basis in the open market, they sure could if the gummint were the borrower. In time, Think Big delivered, according to Wikipedia:
In the early 1980's the government in New Zealand decided that it was smarter than the average joe when it came to business. The government was going to pick some economic winners. The policy was dubbed "Think Big" which had more than a communist, central-economic-planning ring to it.
It had been the oil shocks jolted the government into action. Borrowing vast sums of money on world money markets, the government persuaded lenders that huge government sponsored and endorsed energy projects were pretty much risk free. Whilst they could never stack up on a risk/return basis in the open market, they sure could if the gummint were the borrower. In time, Think Big delivered, according to Wikipedia:
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Indigenous Socialism
Lost Mana
New Zealand is in the invidious position of being caught in a pincer. Government intrusion into commercial activities has historically been strong, underpinned by a persistent socialist instinct. A significant segment of the population believes naively that if government is involved in commerce it is somehow freed from the animal instincts of rapacious capitalists. These credulously choose to overlook the animal instincts of politicians and those who lust after power and riches on the public dime.
New Zealand is in the invidious position of being caught in a pincer. Government intrusion into commercial activities has historically been strong, underpinned by a persistent socialist instinct. A significant segment of the population believes naively that if government is involved in commerce it is somehow freed from the animal instincts of rapacious capitalists. These credulously choose to overlook the animal instincts of politicians and those who lust after power and riches on the public dime.
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