5 ms·
Is it a "blow" if the policy was never actually in effect?
by malchow 9y ago
Is it a "blow" if the policy was never actually in effect?
- markbnj 9y agoWhy is it not? For example, people might have been making plans based on the expectation that it would be in effect.
- pbreit 9y agoBecause the program has never existed in the entire US history. For all we know it could have made things worse.
- burkaman 9y agoIf one company tries to acquire another but the purchase is blocked by the government, would you consider that a blow to either company?
- thehardsphere 9y agoYes.
- burkaman 9y agoEven though we can't know what the result would have been? Many mergers and acquisitions turn out to be huge mistakes.
- thehardsphere 9y agoThe government stopping an entirely consensual act between two people or organizations is a blow to those people, because they aren't being allowed to do whatever it is that they otherwise wanted. Whether it would have been a mistake or not is their problem and part of doing business. You wouldn't use this same logic for actual people, would you? Two people may have sexual intercourse; many acts of intercourse lead to unwanted pregnancy and AIDS, so we should deem these people "unharmed" if the government denies them the opportunity to have sex?
- burkaman 9y agoNo, sorry, it was sort of a rhetorical question. You said a little earlier that you don't consider cancelling this rule to be a blow since it might have been harmful, and I thought this was an analogous situation. The government is stopping consensual acts between investors and entrepreneurs.
- thehardsphere 9y agoRight. I think it is a "blow" in the sense that the companies expended time and effort preparing for this rule change. I don't know whether it is a "blow" in any way beyond that.
- markbnj 9y agoThe point is there isn't like a formal definition of "a blow" that you can resort to. It can be "a blow" for any number of reasons, and it doesn't take a ton of imagination to conjure a few.
- happyrock 9y agoWhy is that any concern of the US government? They are under no obligation to ensure convenience or expediency for citizens of other countries.
- xienze 9y agoWell the important thing is this gives us another opportunity to complain about Trump. Who cares about the specifics.
- rconti 9y agoYes, assuming the expectation that this rule would help the industry.
- pwaivers 9y agoIn general yes. The policy was passed and signed. The industry was ready to start using it, since we are only a week away from the planned start date. This was a concerted effort to block the policy, and therefore could be considered a "blow".
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- thehardsphere 9y agoDepends on if you count the costs people incurred to prepare for it. Though, I think you can't really say it's a "blow" overall if we don't know exactly what would have happened under the policy.
- MrZongle2 9y agoIt is...in the same sense that a reduction in the increase of spending is denounced as a "cut": http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/in-trump-budget-what-media-call-cuts-are-really-increases/ http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/in-trump-budget...