Zero Plus Zero Equals Resentment in Liberal Math

[RedPaddy]

In Slate, the usually foolish Matt Yglesias holds true to form by demonstrating why we shouldn’t allow liberals to make public policy based on what they consider fairness....

The notion that the economic pie is fixed, with the size of “one man’s” piece determining how much remains for everyone else, is absurd on its face—and is in fact debunked by this very yacht.

Given that Jobs died a year ago, the craft’s construction was the full employment act for some shipbuilding company over at least a two-year period, possibly much longer. And the jobs created weren’t minimum-wage. Dozens, if not hundreds, of men and women whose advanced skills went into every detail of this yacht were paid quite well—and their wages soon became mortgage payments, insurance, dry cleaning, food, gasoline, income taxes, savings deposits, etc.

Which is to say that this private-sector yacht Yglesias preferred to see as free housing for “regular families” actually grew the economy for regular families.

» Zero Plus Zero Equals Resentment in Liberal Math - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

So how much is "enough" and should anyone legislate what "enough" is for anyone else?

 

[iluvatar5150]

I didn't find much that made sense in either of those blog posts.

-Dan.

 

[DaisyDay]

I didn't find much that made sense in either of those blog posts.

-Dan.

Seems to be the usual "liberals iz stoopid" diatribe.

 

[Museveni]

Ah the right with their pseudo-capitalists and their Keynsian Top-down approach to economy. The rich spending money even on pointless things somehow magicly means the workers of those pointless projects will spend their money (broken windows).

And as Hayek so elegantly pointed out resources are finite and a sooner or later all those grasping will notice there is no more and then we're up poop-creek.

 

[Metal Minister]

Ah the right with their pseudo-capitalists and their Keynsian Top-down approach to economy.

Do you know what keynesian economics is? http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics

The rich spending money even on pointless things somehow magicly means the workers of those pointless projects will spend their money (broken windows).

That's called free market. What has a demand, creates jobs. If the "rich" choose to buy yachts, then it will create jobs in the businesses that build yachts.

And as Hayek so elegantly pointed out resources are finite and a sooner or later all those grasping will notice there is no more and then we're up poop-creek.

You really don't understand good business do you. Other than oil (which we can now make out of sewage in about 30 minutes) can you name a resource we're running out of? I'm not holding my breath...

 

[Hetta]

Other than oil (which we can now make out of sewage in about 30 minutes) can you name a resource we're running out of? I'm not holding my breath...

We are running short on mineral resources. None of the minerals we are mining for will last forever. Do you have something that will replace copper when it runs out?

 

[DaisyDay]

Ah the right with their pseudo-capitalists and their Keynsian Top-down approach to economy.

Do you know what keynesian economics is? Keynesian economics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maynard Keynes is the sensible, demand-side guy that the top-down, supply-siders/trickle-downers hate.

Keynesian economics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (better without the ".m").

 

[Assyrian]

That's called free market. What has a demand, creates jobs. If the "rich" choose to buy yachts, then it will create jobs in the businesses that build yachts.

But most of the rich get that way by being careful with their money and instead of splashing out invest the extra money in the stock market.

A few will buy themselves yachts and some more workers are taken on at the local dockyard.

One rich man decides to start a factory making trainers, but the poor don't have any money to buy trainers and the new workers at the dock yards don't need that many shoes. But since the shoe maker is a really good businessman he succeeds, unfortunately the shoe factory down the road goes out of business. Such is the free market.

Meanwhile all the extra money invested in the stock market drives up the price of stocks until the bubble bursts. Now the new shoe manufacturer is struggling, but he goes to Bain Capital who advise him to switch production to China. Now that really is the free market.

You really don't understand good business do you. Other than oil (which we can now make out of sewage in about 30 minutes) can you name a resource we're running out of? I'm not holding my breath...

Helium the second most common element in the universe.

 

[keith99]

We are running short on mineral resources. None of the minerals we are mining for will last forever. Do you have something that will replace copper when it runs out?

Actually by and large they will. Copper used in pipes or pennies stays copper. It is not used up.

It also is not that there are only a strictly limited number of places wher copper exists and once those are mined there is nothing more. There are more, just deeper and harder to mine.

Very basic economics strongly implies that we will never run out of copper, or for that matter oil, jsut that it will become increasingly expensive and eventually will not be economically viable for many ofthe current uses.