5 ms·

> Markets rather optimize for the most efficient usage of resources. Most efficient usage of resources in what sense?

• q-big 4y ago
  In the sense that those who are willing to pay the most get preferred resource allocation in a way that is self-adjusting. If a company is able to pay more for their commodities, it means that it is able to create more of an economic value of the commodities than a competitor (otherwise it would not be able to pay this price). This leads to a more efficient and effective use of the commodities that are traded on the market.
  • krolden 4y ago
    Producing something that people need but dont want isn't efficiency, its exploitation
  • msmenardi 4y ago
    It also encourages slavery. Who sows your clothes? Who assembles your phone? Who picks the vegetables you eat? Really it's all the same person: The cheapest option.
    • q-big 4y ago
      > It also encourages slavery. Indeed, if slavery turned out to be more efficient, it would. But I think that the claim that slavery is more efficient does not hold, since opressing people binds a lot of ressources; also opressed people tend to do work as minimally as possible. So it is much more efficient to give people the illusion of freedom instead of enslaving them.
      • msmenardi 4y ago
        And yet, in our system that prioritizes efficiency, we have more slavery than at any point in human history. Something doesn't add up.