--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "John D. Giorgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 10:39 AM 3/7/2004 -0800 Doug Pensinger wrote:
> >> Nevertheless, if by "loyalty" you mean keeping their goods and
services
> >> more expensive than those of their competitors, I think that it
is very
> >> unreasonable to expect that of anybody.
> >
> >Exactly. That's one of the reasons why an unrestricted free
market is an
> >unhealthy system, IMO. We value loyalty but the free market
doesn't.
>
> But I would argue that the converse is just as unhealthy.
>
> As an economist, I believe in looking for ways to increase
efficiency in an
> economy. With greater efficiency more goods and services are
produced.
> To do this, it will periodically be necessary to fire workers
from
> inefficient jobs. Ideally, they can eventually be redeployed
in more
> efficient sectors of the economy.
>
> Neverthless, the point remains that I have never seen an economic
model
> whereby prosperity is achieved by making goods and services *more*
> expensive. To the extent that "loyalty" is a force keeping
goods and
> service *more expensive* then "loyalty" is a force acting against
our
> prosperity.
>
> Indeed, in general, "loyalty", by which I mean actions which keep
goods and
> services more expensive, has almost always been found to be
unsustainable.
> Today, the difference between "loyalty" and pursuing cheaper
prices may
> be small.... but tomorrow that difference will only widen, and
eventually
> that gap will widen to the point where "loyalty" will be nearly
impossible
> to maintain, and the consequences will be much more severe.
I guess it's a little odd, becouse I agree with you, but could you
explain why you think this is the case.
Personaly, I think it is becouse of the "idealy people retool" to
paraphrase something you said earlier.
A little guestimating: Let's suppose someone spends $300,000 (30 a
symester) and 5 years studying to become an X (Engineer Computer
Sientist, Physisist) then they make an average of $50,000 a year for
the next ten years. Let's say that subsistance at an average
lifestyle for someone without such a degree is $30 a year, (drive a
civic, one bedroom appatment, little or no saveings). That leaves
$20 a year to pay off the expense of the education. It isn't hard to
see that it is uneconomical to aquire such an education, if it can
not be sustained for more than 30 years.
BTW even if you change the numbers for a cheeper ("in state")
school, and factor in some average schoolarships you won't get the
education down below 10k a symester, and that is still 100000k over
all. This makes the reetooling thinkable with a 10 year run.
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