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But, that's now how capitalism works. Capitalism is workers must compete for jobs, services and goods. Capitalism for companies and rich are how to buy off th

But, that's now how capitalism works. Capitalism is workers must compete for jobs, services and goods. Capitalism for companies and rich are how to buy off the right people and laws to prevent competition. I remember in business school how it drilled into us that there are only two important numbers in a company. The price of your product, and the cost of your product. "You can only dictate your cost of your product because your market dictates what you can sell it for." Every time I hear things like "we can't find enough people" or "yeah, but then we'll just pass it along in our cost to customers," I know how much we don't have capitalism.

sularin 5y ago
It's a bit more nuanced than that.For Taiwan it's a matter of survival not a question of money.You literally cant compete with a behemoth like China.
belval 5y ago
From your comment I am not sure that I understand if you agree of disagree with the move. Capitalism here is not the issue. If China pays more they get the workers. That's capitalism as its core. If TSMC wants to retain their workers they have to dig in their 40% profit margins and increase salaries to compete for talent. If they want to increase the price of their chips to account for that payroll increase that will make Samsung (or whoever else) more competitive and that's capitalism as well. > Every time I hear things like "we can't find enough people" or "yeah, but then we'll just pass it along in our cost to customers," I know how much we don't have capitalism. I agree and it makes me angry, individual freedoms are and should stay a thing. If you can't pay your employees a salary that makes them want to work for you, they are not the problem and your competitors are not the problem.
- cdumler 5y ago
  > If TSMC wants to retain their workers they have to dig in their 40% profit margins and increase salaries to compete for talent. I agree completely. I was trying to comment on the Western narrative about capitalism: "Capitalism is all fine and dandy unless it impacts me negatively."
toast0 5y ago
The market doesn't really dictate your sales price. The market may dictate the price vs sales curve. If you raise prices, usually unit sales will fall (although, not always) and sometimes there's a big cliff as you approach (or surpass) competitors' prices.
- Retric 5y ago
  Try and increase prices by 1,000,000,000x and say the market doesn’t set prices. Markets give you wiggle room, but maximum profit is the goal not simply moving some units.
  - Retric 5y ago
    For those to don’t understand. Your unit cost is some function based on the number of units produced. f(x) The market will buy some number of units at any price point. S(P). Now you have two functions and you want the maximum of [ S(P) * (P - f( S(P) )) ]. Thus the market determines both the number of units sold and the price. Of course that’s assuming you’re not selling a finite supply of something like say oil etc. And of course advertising and segmenting the market can further boost profits etc.
AnimalMuppet 5y ago
If you're competing with the government of China, then capitalism isn't really the rules of the competition.
- 8note 5y ago
  Why not? Globally, they're a corporation like any other It hits at a flaw in capitalism where rich people get to dictate what poor people do, but we generally don't mind that
  - AnimalMuppet 5y ago
    By "they", I presume you mean the PRC. But there's more to capitalism than just the existence of corporations. The PRC is not responding to market forces like price signals.

sularin 5y ago

It's a bit more nuanced than that.For Taiwan it's a matter of survival not a question of money.You literally cant compete with a behemoth like China.

belval 5y ago

From your comment I am not sure that I understand if you agree of disagree with the move. Capitalism here is not the issue. If China pays more they get the workers. That's capitalism as its core. If TSMC wants to retain their workers they have to dig in their 40% profit margins and increase salaries to compete for talent. If they want to increase the price of their chips to account for that payroll increase that will make Samsung (or whoever else) more competitive and that's capitalism as well. > Every time I hear things like "we can't find enough people" or "yeah, but then we'll just pass it along in our cost to customers," I know how much we don't have capitalism. I agree and it makes me angry, individual freedoms are and should stay a thing. If you can't pay your employees a salary that makes them want to work for you, they are not the problem and your competitors are not the problem.

cdumler 5y ago
> If TSMC wants to retain their workers they have to dig in their 40% profit margins and increase salaries to compete for talent. I agree completely. I was trying to comment on the Western narrative about capitalism: "Capitalism is all fine and dandy unless it impacts me negatively."

toast0 5y ago

The market doesn't really dictate your sales price. The market may dictate the price vs sales curve. If you raise prices, usually unit sales will fall (although, not always) and sometimes there's a big cliff as you approach (or surpass) competitors' prices.

Retric 5y ago
Try and increase prices by 1,000,000,000x and say the market doesn’t set prices. Markets give you wiggle room, but maximum profit is the goal not simply moving some units.
- Retric 5y ago
  For those to don’t understand. Your unit cost is some function based on the number of units produced. f(x) The market will buy some number of units at any price point. S(P). Now you have two functions and you want the maximum of [ S(P) * (P - f( S(P) )) ]. Thus the market determines both the number of units sold and the price. Of course that’s assuming you’re not selling a finite supply of something like say oil etc. And of course advertising and segmenting the market can further boost profits etc.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

If you're competing with the government of China, then capitalism isn't really the rules of the competition.

8note 5y ago
Why not? Globally, they're a corporation like any other It hits at a flaw in capitalism where rich people get to dictate what poor people do, but we generally don't mind that
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  By "they", I presume you mean the PRC. But there's more to capitalism than just the existence of corporations. The PRC is not responding to market forces like price signals.