6 ms·

"Imagine if there was a different speed limit depending on if you were driving to McDonalds or to Burger King"

amelius 10y ago
To which the reply will be: "If Burger King pays someone to enable me to get there faster, then that's cool!" (devil's advocate)
- simonh 10y ago
  How about if the road company threatened to put speed bumps on the roads unless the restaurant companies paid to not have them installed, and Burger King paid but McDonalds didn't? Oh, and you already paid the road company a toll to use the road to drive to the restaurants in the first place.
  - amelius 10y ago
    That's much better. But now the reply could be: "The customer is free to choose a different road company. And the road company is free to choose its business model. The free market will decide which road company offers the best price/performance ratio in the end." (again, devil's advocate)
    - bb611 10y ago
      But in the US the average consumer doesn't have a meaningful choice between road companies: http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/most-of-the-us-has-no-broadband-competition-at-25mbps-fcc-chair-says/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/most-of-the-us-has-n...
      - simonh 10y ago
        This is the heart of it. Free market economics is a wonderful thing and as a civilization we have reaped enormous rewards from it, I'm a true believer, but if your market produces natural monopolies that are highly stable then that's not really a market anymore and it's certainly not free or fair. Adam Smith, the father of free market economics, was very clear about this. Markets must be well regulated in order to remain free and fair.
    - digler999 10y ago
      thats not devil's advocate as much as it is a "racketeering advocate" [1]. [1] Racketeering, often associated with organized crime, is the act of offering of a dishonest service (a "racket") to solve a problem that wouldn't otherwise exist without the enterprise offering the service.
    - jandrese 10y ago
      And because roads are expensive, there is only one. If you don't like it you just have to fly your helicopter to McDonalds instead. The market works!
    - jandrese 10y ago
      And because roads are expensive, there is only one. If you don't like it you just have to fly your helicopter to McDonalds instead. The market works!
bluetwo 10y ago
I like it. I was thinking "What if gas stations could charge you based in the car you drove, and asked car companies to pay these 'fees'?"
- Spivak 10y ago
  Customer: "These two cars are basically the same price, but if I go with the Honda I get $0.25 off per gallon. Cool, let's go with that one."
  - bluetwo 10y ago
    But what if the Honda now costs more or has less features?
794CD01 10y ago
"Imagine if you always had to follow the same speed limit no matter whether you were driving to McDonalds or to the hospital"
- digler999 10y ago
  in what jurisdiction is it legal to speed due to a medical emergency ?
  - drakonandor 10y ago
    Might not be explicitly legal, but chances are it'd go like this: Police: Sir, do you know what speed you were going? Driver: Yes, my wife is in the back and she's about to go into labor. Police: Let me turn on my lights and escort you to the hospital!

To which the reply will be: "If Burger King pays someone to enable me to get there faster, then that's cool!" (devil's advocate)

simonh 10y ago
How about if the road company threatened to put speed bumps on the roads unless the restaurant companies paid to not have them installed, and Burger King paid but McDonalds didn't? Oh, and you already paid the road company a toll to use the road to drive to the restaurants in the first place.
- amelius 10y ago
  That's much better. But now the reply could be: "The customer is free to choose a different road company. And the road company is free to choose its business model. The free market will decide which road company offers the best price/performance ratio in the end." (again, devil's advocate)
  - bb611 10y ago
    But in the US the average consumer doesn't have a meaningful choice between road companies: http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/most-of-the-us-has-no-broadband-competition-at-25mbps-fcc-chair-says/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/09/most-of-the-us-has-n...
    - simonh 10y ago
      This is the heart of it. Free market economics is a wonderful thing and as a civilization we have reaped enormous rewards from it, I'm a true believer, but if your market produces natural monopolies that are highly stable then that's not really a market anymore and it's certainly not free or fair. Adam Smith, the father of free market economics, was very clear about this. Markets must be well regulated in order to remain free and fair.
  - digler999 10y ago
    thats not devil's advocate as much as it is a "racketeering advocate" [1]. [1] Racketeering, often associated with organized crime, is the act of offering of a dishonest service (a "racket") to solve a problem that wouldn't otherwise exist without the enterprise offering the service.
  - jandrese 10y ago
    And because roads are expensive, there is only one. If you don't like it you just have to fly your helicopter to McDonalds instead. The market works!
  - jandrese 10y ago
    And because roads are expensive, there is only one. If you don't like it you just have to fly your helicopter to McDonalds instead. The market works!

bluetwo 10y ago

I like it. I was thinking "What if gas stations could charge you based in the car you drove, and asked car companies to pay these 'fees'?"

Spivak 10y ago
Customer: "These two cars are basically the same price, but if I go with the Honda I get $0.25 off per gallon. Cool, let's go with that one."
- bluetwo 10y ago
  But what if the Honda now costs more or has less features?

794CD01 10y ago

"Imagine if you always had to follow the same speed limit no matter whether you were driving to McDonalds or to the hospital"

digler999 10y ago
in what jurisdiction is it legal to speed due to a medical emergency ?
- drakonandor 10y ago
  Might not be explicitly legal, but chances are it'd go like this: Police: Sir, do you know what speed you were going? Driver: Yes, my wife is in the back and she's about to go into labor. Police: Let me turn on my lights and escort you to the hospital!