I am referring to private goods. Commodities. There is a role for the state in theprovision of public goods. Goods which benefit most but where the benefits (profits) can't be privately appropriated. We tend to underproduce public goods.
Private goods-- where profits can be privately appropriated-- are best done in a competitive market, or in a regulated monopoly. arthur -----Original Message----- From: Ray Evans Harrell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 9:50 AM To: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: More Porkie Pies? Arthur, You're making the same argument that ecologists make about the environment. Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 8:37 AM Subject: RE: More Porkie Pies? > Ahhh, if it were only that simple. Nationalization seemed to be the answer. > But a takeover of private assets led to killing the "golden goose" in case > after case. The market seems to be the way to harness greed and turn it > into productivity. When the state runs things " for the people" , -- in > most cases-- it doesn't work. > > arthur cordell > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 6:05 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: More Porkie Pies? > > > On Fri, 12 Jul 2002, Arthur Cordell wrote: > > That is the challenge. How to distribute the incredible wealth of our > > economy. The communists/socialists had an ideology for a time when goods > > could potentially be free, but had no viable economic system to get to > that > > state. The "capitalists" seem to have solved the production problem but > > have no ideology of what to do next, of how to distribute goods when they > > are plentiful. > > Well, if it's that simple, why not "serialize" the two?: > First let capitalism solve the production problem (=provide the viable > economic system that the socialists lacked), and then let the socialists > tell them how to distribute goods when they are plentiful (=the ideology > of what to do next that the capitalists lacked). > > ;-) > Chris >
