Posts by Sacha
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Hard News: The First Draft, in reply to Matthew Poole,
basket cases from the outset
I saw an estimate somewhere of 50,000 more casualties prevented because of our building regulations and preparedness.
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Dismal Soyanz,
suggesting that people would use their battery power on finding out where the cheapest petrol is
I'm sure it would all be worth it so that Hayek, Rand, Brash and others of our betters could rest easier knowing that the invisible hand is shafting the right folk unimpeded.
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Ben Winters,
You're the type to get personal and call names.
I'm the type who gets bored of arguing the indefensible. The notion of setting up an elaborate system to juggle petrol supplies around an earthquake-stricken region and somehow "target assistance" to the needy - purely to preserve an ideological insistence that markets are best - is beyond nutty. You're wasting oxygen.
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Ben Winters,
You really don't have the faintest idea do you of the difference between want and need; of can and must. Maybe come back when you've done some living beyond a textbook or an Act party branch meeting.
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Hard News: The First Draft, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Completely different things, though.
Thanks for clarifying Matthew - I was making the distinction but knew there was so much I didn't know. Consensus seems to be a great job being done.
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Dismal Soyanz,
You do know that not all economists are indentured to the government, right?
Uh, I believe you raised 'the electorate' specifically. I'm open to politics meaning other stakeholders too and interests larger than that of the state. It's often shareholders we hear about rather than citizens anyway.
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Ben Winters,
and to then target cash assistance for those in genuine need and affected by that price increase?
Funny how that part is usually not done, eh.
The objections to Crampton's neolib wet dream have been more than adequately canvassed above. For you to say: "for each litre of petrol not used on help, the gas will, on average, be redistributed to other uses of even higher value" just shows you haven't been paying attention. Higher value does not always equal what rich folk can afford to spend money on, in the real world let alone one in crisis.
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Hard News: The First Draft, in reply to recordari,
What's the bet Bob Parker had seen it too..
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Dismal Soyanz,
Ultimately, in order for the known to be acted upon (or explicitly included) requires a mandate (in whatever form) from the electorate.
And the electorate need to know the contextualised implications of the (suppressed) information. Who's fulfilling that role?
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OnPoint: On Price Gouging, in reply to Keith Ng,
even if the factual component is wrong, that just makes it wrong - not evil
You could argue that repeating something known to be true only in a perfect world but not in this one and which consistently disadvantages vulnerable people is far from 'good' in any conventional moral framework.