4 ms·

So what you want is a command economy? Nah, I’ll pass. Markets are made up of people, they’re not just some abstraction. Governments have good uses, but determ

• karpierz 5y ago
  "Command economy" and "unregulated free market" is a false dichotomy.
  • SllX 5y ago
    True. But note two things: 1. The parent is advocating for a powerful form of command over the economy. 2. I am not advocating for lawless markets.
• wolverine876 5y ago
  How do governments prevent monopolies? That's been generally done and supported for over a century.
  • SllX 5y ago
    Well not granting monopolies is a start, but governments grant monopolies all the time in the form of patents, copyright and trademarks. Proving a monopoly exists or are forming could be another way to do so, but so far they have recently made lackluster arguments in Courts of Law on that front. If you then prove a monopoly, can you also then prove that it’s activities are harmful to the people in the marketplace by denying them choices they would otherwise have? Maybe, but probably not very often and certainly not easily.
    • wolverine876 5y ago
      > not granting monopolies is a start Monopolies are generally not granted, except in exceptional circumstances. The US government didn't grant Microsoft a monopoly in PC operating systems. > Proving a monopoly exists or are forming could be another way to do so, but so far they have recently made lackluster arguments in Courts of Law on that front. What are you referring to?
      • SllX 5y ago
        Yes, yes they do. I listed three examples of what a government granted monopoly looks like. Copyright, trademark and patents don’t exist naturally, and they’re unenforceable without the Rule of Law. > What are you referring to? Most recently (that I can think of): the suit the Feds filed against Facebook that was tossed out of court.
        • wolverine876 5y ago
          Those are temporary monopolies of a technology or creative work, not monopolies of a market.
          • SllX 5y ago
            That’s not a useful distinction. Market monopolies, if they exist, where they exist, are usually tied into those same government granted monopolies. Facebook the bare bones public domain Technology stack is a lot less valuable to investors than Facebook the service on the Facebook servers presented to Facebook account holders on Facebook’s private servers at Facebook.com paid for with Ad revenue generated by Facebook’s copyrighted (and maybe partially patented?) adtech and backed by Sales Reps on Facebook’s payroll. And despite all of that, they’re probably still not a monopoly for anything (haven’t heard a convincing argument on this one yet!), at least anywhere the DoJ and FTC have jurisdiction.
            • wolverine876 5y ago
              Facebook's extraordinary market power seems due to the network effect, not patents.
              • SllX 5y ago
                Not just patents: trademark too. There’s only one Facebook. Without that, you also don’t have Facebook’s network effect tying it all together.
• cassac 5y ago
  Doesn’t the government already do that all the time? Copyright, trademarks, spectrum auctions, right of ways, public run utilities, private government projects bid out to single entities, eminent domain, licensing etc etc are all tools the government uses to mess with the market. It is not free and hasn’t been for awhile and I’m not sure any of it has to do with what’s best for the people.
  • SllX 5y ago
    The government does a lot of things that fall into a few categories: tax authority, police powers, market participation for its own activities, and even granting (or reserving) monopoly powers. Also missing from your list: USPS has a monopoly on First-class mail in the United States. Some of these are just, useful, bad, abhorrent, unnecessary, necessary, or outmoded. None of that falls into commanding the economy. We’re not even strangers to command economies: the wartime powers of the Federal government are vast, and were most powerfully executed in World War II. I would argue that exactly what the parent suggested, in respond to the GP falls exactly into that bucket of ideas for commanding the economy. It’s not a just nor good use of Government, no matter how Democratic.
    • yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
      > None of that falls into commanding the economy. ...what would you say the Fed and FTC do?