3 ms·

I'm not buying your argument, but perhaps I'm missing something. Is there not a free market for lumber? If the market is functioning properly then any company a

by ssl232 4y ago

I'm not buying your argument, but perhaps I'm missing something. Is there not a free market for lumber? If the market is functioning properly then any company attempting to reduce supply to push up prices will find themselves losing customers to other companies entering the market who are willing to accept marginally lower profits to plug the supply gap. As long as there is enough competition, prices should stabilise back to their long term averages. My take is that the supply chain for lumber, as with e.g. toilet paper, is optimised for a particular, and until 2020 relatively stable, level of output. The last two years have changed all that, and demand has outstripped supply, which has led to an increase in prices.

jmyeet 4y ago
A free market never exists in a vacuum, which is something that anarchists and libertarians always fail to acknowledge. Without government intervention any "free market" will quickly devolve into a monopoly or oligopoly. We end up with price cartels as is that we constantly need to regulate and break up. You really don't have to look far to see what happens with weak or no government oversight in a "free market". Look at Chevron pollution in Ecuador. Look at the baby formula "shortage". Look at the ludicrous and unjustifiable price for insulin in the US. Look at the artifically high pricing on mined diamonds and the de Beers cartel. Look at the fact that most eyeglass frames are made by a single company.
- sershe 4y ago
  Really? These are irrelevant, invalid, or great examples of misguided govt intervention 1) Ecuadorian govt lost in international courts and us courts. Overall this case is irrelevant to free markets either way, but it's quite believable that it's a post factum shakedown attempt by a corrupt govt. 2) baby formula is extremely regulated. The factory was shut down by the govt, market is hard to enter due to regulation, imports are very restricted by the govt, even e.g. from Europe. 3) Insulin is the same story - govt restricts imports AND production. Intellectual property regime (which I d argue is one of the few good things the govt does - but it has nothing to do with free markets) is also at fault, although as far as I understand less so for insulin, perhaps for newer products. Not even getting into overall healthcare incentives screwed up by govt action (employer based health insurance, etc.). 4) dunno much about diamond, but I'm going to assume the example is just as bogus as the others. 5) I got great frames online for like $35 (there were cheaper ones too, didn't look as nice); my prescription is very high so these were not Walmart checkout glasses, either. Free market in action! I sure hope govt doesn't regulate it and force me back to local price gouging optometrist again, "for my own safety"!
- ChoGGi 4y ago
  Zenni optical starts at $10 for frames, lenses aren't much more, unless you go fancy.

by ssl232 4y ago

jmyeet 4y ago

A free market never exists in a vacuum, which is something that anarchists and libertarians always fail to acknowledge. Without government intervention any "free market" will quickly devolve into a monopoly or oligopoly. We end up with price cartels as is that we constantly need to regulate and break up. You really don't have to look far to see what happens with weak or no government oversight in a "free market". Look at Chevron pollution in Ecuador. Look at the baby formula "shortage". Look at the ludicrous and unjustifiable price for insulin in the US. Look at the artifically high pricing on mined diamonds and the de Beers cartel. Look at the fact that most eyeglass frames are made by a single company.

sershe 4y ago
Really? These are irrelevant, invalid, or great examples of misguided govt intervention 1) Ecuadorian govt lost in international courts and us courts. Overall this case is irrelevant to free markets either way, but it's quite believable that it's a post factum shakedown attempt by a corrupt govt. 2) baby formula is extremely regulated. The factory was shut down by the govt, market is hard to enter due to regulation, imports are very restricted by the govt, even e.g. from Europe. 3) Insulin is the same story - govt restricts imports AND production. Intellectual property regime (which I d argue is one of the few good things the govt does - but it has nothing to do with free markets) is also at fault, although as far as I understand less so for insulin, perhaps for newer products. Not even getting into overall healthcare incentives screwed up by govt action (employer based health insurance, etc.). 4) dunno much about diamond, but I'm going to assume the example is just as bogus as the others. 5) I got great frames online for like $35 (there were cheaper ones too, didn't look as nice); my prescription is very high so these were not Walmart checkout glasses, either. Free market in action! I sure hope govt doesn't regulate it and force me back to local price gouging optometrist again, "for my own safety"!
ChoGGi 4y ago
Zenni optical starts at $10 for frames, lenses aren't much more, unless you go fancy.