<<Why do you speak of regulated lower prices creating ARTIFICIALLY high
demand
level? Is there some NATURAL demand level? Why? And does ARTIFICIAL imply
"bad"? Why? What ethical theory do you hold that implies this? Are you a
crypto-Thomist- but even they recognize things that are artificial but good.
Cheers, Ken Hanly>>
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Correct me if I am wrong, but heat was essentially free in the Soviet Union.
As a result, people cranked their heaters up to 80 degrees plus on a regular
basis. Can we not agree that was "more artificial" than what exists
generally in a market economy, in which the price people pay for heat is at
least somewhat related to the cost of delivering the heat to the consumer?
It seems to me there is a qualitative leap between saying that markets have
externalities that need to be remedied, and saying that the state of affairs
created by a market should be given no greater weight as an ideal than the
state of affairs created by choosing prices out of a hat because they are
both artificial.
David Shemano
