--- Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sep 1, 2005, at 12:24 PM, Gautam Mukunda wrote: > > --- Dave Land <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> When threads collide... > >> > >> It occurred to me that the answer to the original > question in the > >> "Gas > >> Prices" thread was "looting," just being engaged > in by > >> corporations, and > >> not individuals. > >> > >> I think that whatever punishment is meted out to > individuals caught > >> looting stores ought to be brought to bear upon > corporations who > >> engage > >> in looting in the form of hyper-inflated gas > prices. > > > > Because obeying the law and maintaining property > rights is the same > > thing as stealing things at gun point. And > clearly it's a good > > idea to > > make sure that there is no incentive whatsoever > for corporations to > > prevent shortages and create stockpiles. It's > always reassuring to > > know > > that no matter how brutally bad the mistakes we > made in the past were > > (see price controls on gasoline in the > 1970s)...there are people who > > want to do it all over again.
Sorry Dave - that came out a lot more acerbic than I meant it to be. > Hmm. I don't recall saying that. I recall saying ... > well, there it is, > just above your paragraph: that if corporations > engage in looting in the > form of hyper-inflationary gas prices, they should > be punished as > thieves. But this isn't looting. The gasoline is _their property_. They paid for it fair and square. In doing so they took a risk - the price of gasoline could also have dropped suddenly. In this case, they will be rewarded for that risk, but it doesn't have to happen that way,and somehow I don't think you'd be calling for them to be bailed out if it went the other way. They can sell it (or not sell it) for whatever price they choose. They have competitors who are also trying to sell things - and presumably they will use lower prices as their primary marketing tool, as this is, after all, the one they already use. You cannot, by definition, loot what you already own. > Dave "Since when is fairness the same as centralized > control?" Land Well, when you get to define fairness, it does appear to be the same thing as centralized control, yes. In this case you want "whatever punishment is brought to bear upon the looters" - that is, people who are stealing - to be brought upon companies who are obeying the law. How is that _different_ from centralized control, exactly? Fairness, it seems to me, involves asking people to obey the law. There is no part of that in imposing price controls on a highly competitive market. Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com ____________________________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
