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Let's not forget the opposite extreme though (USSR). If you try to regulate inequality away by redesigning your entire government, what ends up happening is tha

by umvi 7y ago

Let's not forget the opposite extreme though (USSR). If you try to regulate inequality away by redesigning your entire government, what ends up happening is that everyone is equally poor except the elite corrupt government officials

thaumaturgy 7y ago
Yes, and we're very, very close to becoming USSR. One more regulation oughtta do the trick.
luckylion 7y ago
You're also creating a shadow market. A good friend of my grandmother lived in East Germany during the cold war and explained the German term "Bückware" (literally bend-down wares) to me: the sought-after goods in stores that you'd only get by trading favors, stored out of sight under the counter so they'd have to bend down to get it.
- heavenlyblue 7y ago
  It was also called blat in Eastern Europe [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blat_(favors) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blat_(favors)
- ajuc 7y ago
  "Spod lady" (from under the counter) in Polish :)
ajuc 7y ago
USSR was dysfunctional for many reasons, the least important of them was economic system, the most was that it was a totalitarian state with no way to change the government. It was shooting its own citizens and starving them to death in millions (and not because it had to - it was simply "better" for their policies). I agree communism doesn't work, but these particular problems can and did happen just as well in other economic systems too - see British starving Ireland or India for capitalist examples. On the other hand there are socialist countries that are quite heavily regulated and perfectly fine - see Scandinavia and part of western Europe. The important part about modern democratic countries isn't that they are capitalist. It's that they are democratic and have rule of law and a way to change the government. I'm focusing on this because I see many democratic countries turn illiberal and autocratic over time thinking they will be ok because capitalism will save them.

by umvi 7y ago

thaumaturgy 7y ago

Yes, and we're very, very close to becoming USSR. One more regulation oughtta do the trick.

luckylion 7y ago

You're also creating a shadow market. A good friend of my grandmother lived in East Germany during the cold war and explained the German term "Bückware" (literally bend-down wares) to me: the sought-after goods in stores that you'd only get by trading favors, stored out of sight under the counter so they'd have to bend down to get it.

heavenlyblue 7y ago
It was also called blat in Eastern Europe [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blat_(favors) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blat_(favors)
ajuc 7y ago
"Spod lady" (from under the counter) in Polish :)

ajuc 7y ago

USSR was dysfunctional for many reasons, the least important of them was economic system, the most was that it was a totalitarian state with no way to change the government. It was shooting its own citizens and starving them to death in millions (and not because it had to - it was simply "better" for their policies). I agree communism doesn't work, but these particular problems can and did happen just as well in other economic systems too - see British starving Ireland or India for capitalist examples. On the other hand there are socialist countries that are quite heavily regulated and perfectly fine - see Scandinavia and part of western Europe. The important part about modern democratic countries isn't that they are capitalist. It's that they are democratic and have rule of law and a way to change the government. I'm focusing on this because I see many democratic countries turn illiberal and autocratic over time thinking they will be ok because capitalism will save them.