Quote from Cutten:
Socialism reduces productivity and wealth. This means less to spend on hospitals, schools, food, and the production inefficiency increases the cost of living. The reduced medical & health standards alone have killed more people than died in the Holocaust.
All the evidence shows that banning speculation reduces the efficiency of prices, makes it harder to hedge, and increases price volatility. Look at onion prices the last 2 years and compare them to oil. Black gold looks like a smooth ride in comparison. Onions are the only commodity where futures trading is banned in the USA. Even a full-on socialist economist should support speculation, because the economic effects of it benefit everyone in society. Unsurprisingly, a massive majority of economists (far more than the general population) think speculation is beneficial. When the experts have a consensus that differs from the consensus of the public, it is almost always the experts who are right.
From your post it appears you are either unaware of the effects of speculation and misunderstand them, or want everyone to be poorer, for lots of people to die unnecessarily, for energy production to become scarcer, less efficient, and more risky, and for oil prices to be a lot higher. Because that will be the result of your preferred policies.
"Socialism reduces productivity and wealth. This means less to spend on hospitals, schools, food, and the production inefficiency increases the cost of living. The reduced medical & health standards alone have killed more people than died in the Holocaust."
I'm not sure where the idea that 'Socialism' reduces productivity and wealth comes from. A ranking of nations according to 'standard of living' shows that the leading countries are all based to some degree on 'socialism'. None of the countries with low tax rates and/or low regulatory mechanisms appear the top 20 (the USA is ranked 12th). (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index).
I'm not sure where you, Cutten, come up with the figure that 'reduced medical & heath standards have killed more people than the Holocaust'?!?!? I know from your previous posts that you don't throw numbers around irresponsibly. All of the top 20 nations in the list have the highest life expectancy on the planet and this is due heavy-handed regulations from the gov't. Public schools, hospitals and high health standards are the epitome of 'Socialism'.
I am not arguing against the concept of 'speculation': I make a living from it. However, I am saying that, for the largest number of people, it is not the BEST way to set up our world. Find a way to eliminate fraud, stagnation of ideas, and prevent the concentration of power/ideas and Oneworld Communism is obviously the best form of gov't that we can evole to. In the meantime, until the death of Nationalism, socialism is the best way to go. Whether this is done in the manner that we follow in the US (grudgingly) or wholeheartedly like France will have to be constantly evaluated.
Finally, in terms of the price of oil & gasoline: I definitely want them to go higher. Higher on a absolute and a relative basis. We in the US have not been paying the full social cost of energy. Cheap gas has increased urban sprawl reducing farmland and destroying wilderness habitat. It has also increased air, water, and soil pollution. Imagine our world in 30 years (I'll be dead) with 1 billion additional auto owners in China, Russia, Brazil, and India. Hgher gas prices will make alternatives more attractive and might possibly save our environment. I'm fine with gas hitting $8 per gallon (which is about what it costs in most of the developed world).
It is tme to stop focusing on growth for growth's sake and worrying more about allocating the current pie on a more equitable basis.
