I'm sorry fellas, but if anyone thinks the current crisis is the cause of an unregulated free market, you really don't know what you are talking about. (And interestingly, this relates to IxD in a way)
You can not look at our financial system and say we have an unregulated free market when: - We have a federal reserve which artificially keeps interest rates low in order to incentivise or discourage savings and investment that would otherwise be subject to pure market conditions - We have a monetary system bolstered by government bonds which are impacting overall market conditions deeply and which are being issued at an insane rate because the government is spending far more than it collects - We have federal mandates and regulations which incentivise financial institutions to offer loans to unfit consumers who would otherwise not be approved, and which punishes financial institutions that do not comply with the mandated risky behavior - We have huge sweetheart deals being offered to businesses based on political influence and affiliation with elected officials None of these are "free market" activities. The merits of free markets aside, we should at least be clear minded that we are not in an unregulated free market, and in fact, we are in a market that is highly distorted by government interference (which directly contributed to the current crisis, though the extent is debatable). This of course is an interesting IxD point in that the experience of the user (us) is highly subjective based on the beliefs and goals brought to the system (the economy) and which directly impacts individual user perceptions in radically different ways, despite the fact that the system activities are absolutely the same for all users. Todd Zaki Warfel wrote: > > On Nov 17, 2008, at 6:24 PM, Dan Saffer wrote: > >> Yes, because we've seen how well an unregulated free market works >> recently. >> >> Users often cannot go elsewhere. [...] And even if you can switch, it >> can be a difficult process. >> >> The Users Rights would be for those who don't have a choice. > > I'm a firm believer in capitalism, free markets, and freedom of > choice. I'd love for free markets to work, but that would require all > people to have honor, integrity, and a sense of sympathy for our > fellow man. Unfortunately, one bad apple can ruin the bunch. > > Balance trumps idealism in my book. We need a balance between free > market and regulation. > > Too much regulation has shown to produce oppression and a socialist > welfare state, which creates dependency and reduces innovation. Look > at what Six Sigma did to 3M. A company known for innovation didn't > release an innovative product in 6 years. > > But the reverse is also true. Completely unregulated markets have been > shown to produce excessive greed. Look at the executives of the large > insurance and financial companies in the US. > > If we were all machines, than either of these two extremes would work. > The face is that we're human. And as humans we have certain desires > and needs, like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While we > share similar categories of desires and needs, our individual > definitions of what qualifies those items is different. > > If it was always about choice, then fewer people would be using > Windows and more people would be using Macs. Detroit wouldn't be in > such a shambles. > > In short, we're human, which is why theoretical ideologies often fail. > Humans can are predictably unpredictable. And systems of balance work > better than extremes. > > > Cheers! > > Todd Zaki Warfel > President, Design Researcher > Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. > ---------------------------------- > Contact Info > Voice: (215) 825-7423 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > AIM: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Blog: http://toddwarfel.com > Twitter: zakiwarfel > ---------------------------------- > In theory, theory and practice are the same. > In practice, they are not. > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
