4 ms·

You are right, though I’d add that the EU correctly reflects Europeans’ policy preferences here. European voters, more often than not, seem to believe they can

by troad 4y ago

You are right, though I’d add that the EU correctly reflects Europeans’ policy preferences here. European voters, more often than not, seem to believe they can have their cake and eat it too: free public services that remain competitive and cutting edge, somehow efficiently run by the government and delivered on time and on budget. Ask those same people about how <insert any existing government service> is run, and they’ll have a litany of complaints.

t43562 4y ago
The flip side of it is exploitative large commercial almost-monopolies which do their best to make you spend money you shouldn't on things you don't need. Markets full of almost exactly the same deal dressed up so many different ways that you don't realise you're going to be stiffed any way you go. Cheap initial prices hide very expensive prices later on etc etc. The amount of effort to evaluate everything and work out where the "catch" is ..... it's just understandable that we might look for our governments to shoulder a bit of that burden in the critical areas. At least our healthcare systems usually help us that way.
- troad 4y ago
  > The flip side of it is exploitative large commercial almost-monopolies which do their best to make you spend money you shouldn't on things you don't need. Markets full of almost exactly the same deal dressed up so many different ways that you don't realise you're going to be stiffed any way you go. Cheap initial prices hide very expensive prices later on etc etc. Yes, Europeans are fond of telling scary tall tales about these kinds of strawmen. "Our economic growth may be sclerotic, our regulatory environment may be completely uncompetitive, and every third company may be relocating operations elsewhere, but the real win is that we don't have too many kinds of products to be confused choosing between!" It's a coping mechanism for decline.
  - t43562 4y ago
    California has a bill right now to do with preventing hidden pricing so you cannot argue that its' not an issue. We also have those problems so we don't need to "be scared by stories in the US" as we experience them. As for decline....look in the mirror. Everyone experiences it.
    - troad 4y ago
      Defining a problem by reference to the amount of the legislation proposed to tackle it seems somewhat backwards. By that logic, Europe has a much greater gun problem than the US does, and its people are terribly confused by the geographic origin of food and drink. > As for decline....look in the mirror. I’m in Europe, so I can just look out my window. It’s very pretty! And completely sclerotic and dysfunctional.

by troad 4y ago

t43562 4y ago

The flip side of it is exploitative large commercial almost-monopolies which do their best to make you spend money you shouldn't on things you don't need. Markets full of almost exactly the same deal dressed up so many different ways that you don't realise you're going to be stiffed any way you go. Cheap initial prices hide very expensive prices later on etc etc. The amount of effort to evaluate everything and work out where the "catch" is ..... it's just understandable that we might look for our governments to shoulder a bit of that burden in the critical areas. At least our healthcare systems usually help us that way.

troad 4y ago
> The flip side of it is exploitative large commercial almost-monopolies which do their best to make you spend money you shouldn't on things you don't need. Markets full of almost exactly the same deal dressed up so many different ways that you don't realise you're going to be stiffed any way you go. Cheap initial prices hide very expensive prices later on etc etc. Yes, Europeans are fond of telling scary tall tales about these kinds of strawmen. "Our economic growth may be sclerotic, our regulatory environment may be completely uncompetitive, and every third company may be relocating operations elsewhere, but the real win is that we don't have too many kinds of products to be confused choosing between!" It's a coping mechanism for decline.
- t43562 4y ago
  California has a bill right now to do with preventing hidden pricing so you cannot argue that its' not an issue. We also have those problems so we don't need to "be scared by stories in the US" as we experience them. As for decline....look in the mirror. Everyone experiences it.
  - troad 4y ago
    Defining a problem by reference to the amount of the legislation proposed to tackle it seems somewhat backwards. By that logic, Europe has a much greater gun problem than the US does, and its people are terribly confused by the geographic origin of food and drink. > As for decline....look in the mirror. I’m in Europe, so I can just look out my window. It’s very pretty! And completely sclerotic and dysfunctional.