Chris,

 

You are somewhat like the 'nouveau-riche' who value everything by its price. So, something that is expensive must be good, while anything cheap must be 'crap'.

 

Further, if people look for the best price they couldn't possibly be as clever as those who enjoy being forced to pay more.

 

You say:

 

“That's why the market ends up with cheapo crap.  Even if I want to buy good products for a good price, I can't, because the companies went  broke, driven out of business by the cheapo crap that most people buy.”

 

You mean the market simply obeyed the instructions of the people. The people didn’t want the things you think they should want (and would force them to if you could). You should come to the US where every possible kind of good is available at the cheapest possible price.

 

If you want to pay more, I’m sure the vendor would reluctantly take it.

 

Don’t know why you brought up the tunnel bit. Apparently governmental inspections and safety checks failed. Maybe it should be operated by private concerns – or perhaps that’s what you mean.

 

Harry

 

*******************************

Henry George School of Social Science

of Los Angeles

Box 655  Tujunga  CA 91042

818 352-4141

*******************************

 

 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:futurework-

> [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christoph Reuss

> Sent: Monday, June 06, 2005 5:47 PM

> To: [email protected]

> Subject: [Futurework] Re: the best service at the cheapest price

> (was Re:Italy and the Euro)

>

> Harry Pollard wrote:

> > The free market (when it exists) tosses out the companies which

> fail to

> > supply the best service at the cheapest price.

>

> In practice, the market rather only looks at the cheapest price and

> tosses out the companies which supply a better service (for a

> corresponding price).

>

> That's why the market ends up with cheapo crap.  Even if I want to

> buy

> good products for a good price, I can't, because the companies went

> broke,

> driven out of business by the cheapo crap that most people buy.

>

> What remains is companies like the one that caused the second

> Alpine

> road tunnel between France and Italy to shut down for months (see

> article

> below), just because the company thought it was clever to save a

> few bucks

> on keeping their trucks in shape and on the salaries of their drivers.

> The same happened in 1999 with the other F-I tunnel (Montblanc).

> Just

> in order to haul such essential stuff as tires from Belgium to Italy !

> (Comparative advantage??  They make tires everywhere...)

>

> ----

>

> Ed Weick wrote to Harry:

> > But God bless you for reminding us of the economics of the 19th

> Century.

>

> Harry is clearly more modern than Keith who keeps reminding us

> of the

> economics of the stone age.

>

> Chris

>

>

>

> http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050605/wl_afp/f

> ranceitalyslovenia_050605193440

>

>

> Alpine tunnel closed for months after deadly inferno

>

>    Sun Jun 5, 3:34 PM ET

>

> MODANE, France (AFP) - The Frejus tunnel linking France and

> Italy through the Alps will remain closed for months after a

> massive blaze that killed two Slovenian truck drivers, authorities

> said.

>

> "We have 10 kilometers (six miles) to clear out and repair. We'll be

> counting that time in months, rather than weeks," said Gilbert

> Santel, president of the company that runs the French side of the

> tunnel.

>

> The deadly blaze in the Frejus tunnel, which broke out on

> Saturday, immediately brought to mind the massive inferno that

> raged through the Mont Blanc tunnel, another Alpine road link, in

> 1999, killing 39 people.

>

> On Saturday, a truck transporting tires from France caught fire

> about halfway through the 13-kilometer (eight-mile) Frejus tunnel

> linking Modane on the French side with the Italian town of

> Bardonecchia.

>

> The blaze spread rapidly, engulfing several vehicles and killing the

> two Slovenian drivers, identified as 23-year-old Doliban Vukanovic

> and 24-year-old Pavol Blanarovik.

>

> Several others suffered from smoke inhalation, but were not

> seriously hurt.

>

> Firefighters needed six hours to bring the flames under control.

>

> "I saw a man running towards me. I immediately turned off my

> ignition and started running towards Italy," said French driver

> Yannick Ayache.

>

> Michel Bouvard, a parliamentary deputy from the region, warned

> that the closure of the Frejus tunnel would spark serious truck

> traffic problems in the area, forcing most lorries to use the Mont

> Blanc tunnel to reach Italy.

>

> "This accident shows the urgent need for the Lyon-Turin rail link,"

> Bouvard said, referring to an ambitious 12.5-billion-euro (15.3-

> billion-dollar) European plan for a high-speed Alpine train line to

> relieve highway traffic.

>

> The Lyon-Turin railway is expected to pass through a 52-kilometer

> (33-mile) tunnel and would require the installation of 300

> kilometers of new tracks.

>

> French Transport Minister Dominique Perben, in Modane on

> Sunday, pledged to push through tougher road safety measures

> following Saturday's blaze and a handful of other deadly weekend

> accidents on France's roads.

>

> Perben, who took over the transport ministry in last week's major

> reshuffle of the French government, insisted that security measures

> had helped save lives, saying: "The intervention plan worked well."

>

> The Frejus tunnel fire was apparently started by a fuel leak. Ugo

> Jallasse of the Italian tunnel operating company SITAF said

> cameras had shown diesel oil escaping from the tire transport

> truck.

>

> "It's possible that there was a mechanical failure. The fuel hit the

> engine and caught fire and in an instant the truck was ablaze,"

> Jallasse said.

>

> French officials said a total of five vehicles had gone up in flames.

>

> A series of security improvements were made following the Mont

> Blanc tunnel fire, but local officials on both sides of the Frejus link

> said more needed to be done.

>

> Italian firefighters cited by Italy's ANSA news agency said heat

> sensing equipment on the Italian side of the tunnel worked but

> apparently failed on the French side.

>

> The Frejus tunnel was opened to road traffic in 1980 but has come

> under increasing strain in recent years due to the growing amount

> of trans-Alpine traffic.

>

> French and Italian transport ministers have discussed plans to

> build a second tunnel alongside the first, with a smaller gallery

> between the two to allow for evacuation in case of fire.

>

>

>

>

>

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