3 ms·

“asymmetric information warfare” I think that’s a great term in explaining how “the free market” doesn’t work.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
FirmwareBurner 3y ago
>“asymmetric information warfare” That's also a powerful tool for wage suppression and it's been used for decades to constantly low-ball workers. Thank god in the last decade we saw a lot more transparency online through user provided open source salary data, which helps even out this asymmetry a bit and have workers demand their market value and hope to not get massively low-balled like before. >I think that’s a great term in explaining how “the free market” doesn’t work. It only works for those who set the prices as they can collude on price/wage fixing whereas workers and consumers can't organize in similar fashions.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
lotsofpulp 3y ago
It has also been shown that much of the population prefers buying something for $x if the price tag claims it has been discounted rather than $x without the claim of a discount.
- wongarsu 3y ago
  Assuming an efficient market, price strongly correlates to (some measure of) value. Now if I over you something that's worth $5, or alternatively something that's worth $10 but that for a short you can purchase for just $5, which item do you choose? Of course ideally you would properly evaluate how much the item is worth, in utility, quality, longevity, social status, resale value, ethical production, etc. But that's difficult (often on purpose). The seller knows what the item is worth, you have to guess, or just use price as a weak proxy. So in a sense, people preferring discounted items is an effect of asymmetric information
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    >Now if I over you something that's worth $5, or alternatively something that's worth $10 but that for a short you can purchase for just $5, which item do you choose? I have no reason to assume that simply because you tell me something may have sold for $10 in the past, that it has any bearing on the relative utility per dollar of that item in the present. I only look at the price I would be able to buy at, and search a few other retailers on my phone, and determine if it is an acceptable price. People prefer discounted items because of ego. They like to feel like THEY got a deal.
marginallen 3y ago
Asymmetric information warfare is the method of abuse for all systems; “free market” that is nothing like it, “democracy” that is not the self-interested will of the majority, and also the false solution to “free market” and the “saving democracy” that are pushed by the oligopoly ruling class system in a false guise of social justice or “wokeness” and claims of saving fake democracy.
- isodev 3y ago
  What?
carapace 3y ago
The "free" in "free market" refers in part to free flow of information. Surfacing information about prices is kind of the point of a market. It's a mechanism that assigns prices "automatically" (as contrasted with central planning, etc.) I don't know much about economics but I know, or think I know, that much.)
- ahoka 3y ago
  More generically, free from economic rent.
ahoka 3y ago
When there’s asymmetric information, then it cannot be a free market by definition.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

>“asymmetric information warfare” That's also a powerful tool for wage suppression and it's been used for decades to constantly low-ball workers. Thank god in the last decade we saw a lot more transparency online through user provided open source salary data, which helps even out this asymmetry a bit and have workers demand their market value and hope to not get massively low-balled like before. >I think that’s a great term in explaining how “the free market” doesn’t work. It only works for those who set the prices as they can collude on price/wage fixing whereas workers and consumers can't organize in similar fashions.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

lotsofpulp 3y ago

It has also been shown that much of the population prefers buying something for $x if the price tag claims it has been discounted rather than $x without the claim of a discount.

wongarsu 3y ago
Assuming an efficient market, price strongly correlates to (some measure of) value. Now if I over you something that's worth $5, or alternatively something that's worth $10 but that for a short you can purchase for just $5, which item do you choose? Of course ideally you would properly evaluate how much the item is worth, in utility, quality, longevity, social status, resale value, ethical production, etc. But that's difficult (often on purpose). The seller knows what the item is worth, you have to guess, or just use price as a weak proxy. So in a sense, people preferring discounted items is an effect of asymmetric information
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  >Now if I over you something that's worth $5, or alternatively something that's worth $10 but that for a short you can purchase for just $5, which item do you choose? I have no reason to assume that simply because you tell me something may have sold for $10 in the past, that it has any bearing on the relative utility per dollar of that item in the present. I only look at the price I would be able to buy at, and search a few other retailers on my phone, and determine if it is an acceptable price. People prefer discounted items because of ego. They like to feel like THEY got a deal.

marginallen 3y ago

Asymmetric information warfare is the method of abuse for all systems; “free market” that is nothing like it, “democracy” that is not the self-interested will of the majority, and also the false solution to “free market” and the “saving democracy” that are pushed by the oligopoly ruling class system in a false guise of social justice or “wokeness” and claims of saving fake democracy.

isodev 3y ago
What?

carapace 3y ago

The "free" in "free market" refers in part to free flow of information. Surfacing information about prices is kind of the point of a market. It's a mechanism that assigns prices "automatically" (as contrasted with central planning, etc.) I don't know much about economics but I know, or think I know, that much.)

ahoka 3y ago
More generically, free from economic rent.

ahoka 3y ago

When there’s asymmetric information, then it cannot be a free market by definition.