Socialist solutions are not the solutions

Z

zdreg

https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...s-in-effort-to-reduce-domestic-prices.358758/

Socialists will inevitably hamper the productive sectors of the economy in a futile attempt to reach their goals. Regulations will be followed by more regulations. In the end the productive sector stops producing and even higher prices, shortages and black markets follow.

Please add your own examples of socialist mismanagement and their unintended consequences

It is disgusting.
 
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longandshort said:
Can you explain what you mean by socialist policies? Do you mean having a mixed market economy, like the public ownership of goods?
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Public ownership of good would certainly be an example e.g amtrak, highways, 1st class mail etc.. Giving exclusive rights to private companies e.g. cable companies and electricity providers in certain cities Any kind of subsidies given to private industry is another example.
 
Food processing and production in Canada. Canada is one of the resource richest countries in the world and they squander all the opportunities through blatant mismanagement. Very soon Canada will produce nothing anymore, already most harvests are exported for processing. But ey, house flipping and trade/barter on second hand websites is the new economy in Canada. The remaining population is employed in non producing, paper shuffling, do nothing jobs. The only jobs where hands on work is required is done by immigrant farm workers and meat packers (one of the few food processing industries left) and by hopelessly overpriced trades men (hourly cost for a semi untrained handyman in the country side goes up to 140 cad, lol).

To my eyes the entire Canadian economy is totally out of wack and only held together by handouts and social programs.

zdreg said:
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...s-in-effort-to-reduce-domestic-prices.358758/

Socialists will inevitably hamper the productive sectors of the economy in a futile attempt to reach their goals. Regulations will be followed by more regulations. In the end the productive sector stops producing and even higher prices, shortages and black markets follow.

Please add your own examples of socialist mismanagement and their unintended consequences

It is disgusting.
More...
 
zdreg said:
Public ownership of good would certainly be an example e.g amtrak, highways, 1st class mail etc.. Giving exclusive rights to private companies e.g. cable companies and electricity providers in certain cities Any kind of subsidies given to private industry is another example.
More...
How do you resolve the free rider dilemma and issues around informational asymmetry?

I’m a capitalist, but I’m also a realist. A pure free market is a hypothetical.
 
I believe everything operates on a spectrum. There are degrees. Neither a pure free market nor a pure planned economy has ever existed,at least not efficiently. There are certain products of the public good that should remain in public hands, policing, fire, education until the end of high school, regulation, utilities, infrastructure.

All the above can operate fairly efficiently in public hands BUT the quality is determined not by some far, distant "government" but by us, our people. We get out what we put in. If we as society are on average dumb then our leadership will be dumb. Our leadership is a mirror image of who we are. That the above sectors in public hands can be managed exceptionally well is shown by countries like Germany or Japan or Switzerland. They are not perfect by a long shot but they show that not everything that is managed by the public sector goes to shit. The key issue here is that such system must be designed from the ground up with equality and quality in mind, not for the purpose of empowering and enriching a few. This would be my main criticism towards many public institutions in the US. They were designed from the very beginning not to benefit the masses but the few. It should not come as a surprise that public sector employees are mediocre at best because nobody of them has a stake nor a vested interest to make the system more efficient and balanced. Public regulators in the US have a vested interest to be soft on those they ought to regulate because that's the source of their future pay cheques. In other western societies regulators are taken care of by a decent retirement package and are not allowed to ever work for the private sector in the future. It removes most of the risk of collusion. The system breaks down and stops being efficient when those who are tasked to do a job well just don't because they are motivated by other interests.

longandshort said:
How do you resolve the free rider dilemma and issues around informational asymmetry?

I’m a capitalist, but I’m also a realist. A pure free market is a hypothetical.
More...
 
Perhaps but the entrepreneural spirit is much more ingrained in the US. Not so in Canada at all according to my impression. People in the US trend to be more self reliant (don't laugh at me I am sure there are many younger ones who are not, I am just relatively speaking in comparison) . That was also in Canada in the past but things changed. Where I live even people of very moderate means hire outside workers for simple jobs as roof or deck cleaning, lawn mowing. Not because they can afford it, I think it's because they are "taken care of" by such a vast array of social programs that almost everyone is covered by at least a few such outside sources of supplemental income.

zdreg said:
Are you sure you are not talking about the US?
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