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Reminds me of this story > The story goes that Milton Friedman was once taken to see a massive government project somewhere in Asia. Thousands of workers using

Reminds me of this story > The story goes that Milton Friedman was once taken to see a massive government project somewhere in Asia. Thousands of workers using shovels were building a canal. Friedman was puzzled. Why weren't there any excavators or any mechanized earth-moving equipment? A government official explained that using shovels created more jobs. Friedman's response: "Then why not use spoons instead of shovels?" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070104576399704275939640.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230407010457639... The attribution for the quote is a bit disputed though : http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/10/spoons-shovels/ http://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/10/spoons-shovels/

malchow 9y ago
The brilliance of the Friedman anecdote is that it reveals something Higher-Life-Form types like Nitin Gadkari, who propose to save you with the wonderful power of regulation, miss. What they miss is that in their world there's no logically sound riposte to Friedman's question. It should be spoons. Teaspoons, even. Creates more jobs. But actually what works is, perhaps, shovels. And then, if you can afford it, earth-moving equipment. Who says shovels are best? Prices say shovels are best. And then, later, prices say earth-moving equipment is best. You don't have to be a Randian absolutist to conclude that governments inevitably distort outcomes and impoverish people, even at the margin, when they control prices. I think what is implicit in a move like Gadkari's is a belief that the idea of a "market-clearing price" is an economic textbook proposal that one is free to adopt or not adopt. In fact these concepts are not theories but reality-reflecting lenses. Prices are actual facts. The ban on driverless cars will create grey markets, criminals, cartelize commercial driving, artificially enhance transport costs, and, perhaps most insidiously, marginally nudge a young man or woman on the edge of deciding between (say) driving and doing a Masters degree, to drive.
- azinman2 9y ago
  An alternative is not to be so black and white (and assume a single dimension is all that matters), and say that shovels maximizes a set of goals: making work efficient AND creating jobs.
- zaptheimpaler 9y ago
  Prices don't simply say shovels are best. Economic theory says that under some ideal conditions, prices reflect what is most efficient, and that whats most efficient is best. That is, your argument is more an assumption that ideal economic models apply than a justification. Ideal economics don't always apply, prices aren't always transparent, competition isn't always perfect, cows aren't spherical.
abhi3 9y ago
The thing is if the goal is to create jobs then this policy is counterproductive. It's a great way to ensure that in 20 years time India has no car industry left. When foreign companies have had decades long lead in autonomous tech there's no way Indian companies will be able to compete with them either in foreign or even domestic market when self-driving cars are allowed. Create a few extra jobs now and destroy an entire industry in the long run. Just like India has a blanket ban on all small drones which just means that whatever innovations come from the drone industry, India will only be its importer. The sad thing is Nitin Gadkari one of the more sensible ministers and yet this is coming from him.
- eastern 9y ago
  With context, Gadkari appeared to say that driverless _commercial_ vehicles will not be allowed. A lot of politicians around the world may be saying that soon.
examplar 9y ago
spoons can break

malchow 9y ago

The brilliance of the Friedman anecdote is that it reveals something Higher-Life-Form types like Nitin Gadkari, who propose to save you with the wonderful power of regulation, miss. What they miss is that in their world there's no logically sound riposte to Friedman's question. It should be spoons. Teaspoons, even. Creates more jobs. But actually what works is, perhaps, shovels. And then, if you can afford it, earth-moving equipment. Who says shovels are best? Prices say shovels are best. And then, later, prices say earth-moving equipment is best. You don't have to be a Randian absolutist to conclude that governments inevitably distort outcomes and impoverish people, even at the margin, when they control prices. I think what is implicit in a move like Gadkari's is a belief that the idea of a "market-clearing price" is an economic textbook proposal that one is free to adopt or not adopt. In fact these concepts are not theories but reality-reflecting lenses. Prices are actual facts. The ban on driverless cars will create grey markets, criminals, cartelize commercial driving, artificially enhance transport costs, and, perhaps most insidiously, marginally nudge a young man or woman on the edge of deciding between (say) driving and doing a Masters degree, to drive.

azinman2 9y ago
An alternative is not to be so black and white (and assume a single dimension is all that matters), and say that shovels maximizes a set of goals: making work efficient AND creating jobs.
zaptheimpaler 9y ago
Prices don't simply say shovels are best. Economic theory says that under some ideal conditions, prices reflect what is most efficient, and that whats most efficient is best. That is, your argument is more an assumption that ideal economic models apply than a justification. Ideal economics don't always apply, prices aren't always transparent, competition isn't always perfect, cows aren't spherical.

abhi3 9y ago

The thing is if the goal is to create jobs then this policy is counterproductive. It's a great way to ensure that in 20 years time India has no car industry left. When foreign companies have had decades long lead in autonomous tech there's no way Indian companies will be able to compete with them either in foreign or even domestic market when self-driving cars are allowed. Create a few extra jobs now and destroy an entire industry in the long run. Just like India has a blanket ban on all small drones which just means that whatever innovations come from the drone industry, India will only be its importer. The sad thing is Nitin Gadkari one of the more sensible ministers and yet this is coming from him.

eastern 9y ago
With context, Gadkari appeared to say that driverless _commercial_ vehicles will not be allowed. A lot of politicians around the world may be saying that soon.

examplar 9y ago

spoons can break