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> The market does not prioritize what the society needs What do you think prices do? What do you think income is reflective of? Companies that make lots of mo

> The market does not prioritize what the society needs What do you think prices do? What do you think income is reflective of? Companies that make lots of money provide things that lots of people are willing to pay for. This is the reflection of what people need. Exxon makes money because people want to stay warm. Cargill makes money because people want to eat. Apple makes money because people want to be entertained. Eli Lilly makes money because people don't want to die. What do you know that millions of people all acting in their own self interest don't know?

kelseyfrog 2y ago
Parent is saying that people with more money can affect the price signal more. That simply isn't as fair as weighting individuals equally. A lot of people don't like the economic impacts of this, so they tend to justify it rather than accept it as valid criticism.
- qeternity 2y ago
  > That simply isn't as fair as weighting individuals equally. It isn't meant to be fair. Fairness blunts the signal.
  - kelseyfrog 2y ago
    Too bad. I mean it to be fair
jltsiren 2y ago
A weighted average can be very different from the unweighted average. In our current society, children can benefit from the wealth and social connections of their parents. That gives the needs of some people additional weight in the market without any actual merit. To get rid of that market distortion, children would have to be raised collectively without any contact to their parents. There is a lot of wealth that has been created with business practices that later became illegal. Because we prefer not to punish people for actions that were legal at the time, we let people keep that wealth. But if we want the market to prioritize the needs of the current society, such wealth would have to be confiscated. A society where the market actually reflects the needs of the society would be incredibly dystopian.
rstuart4133 2y ago
> What do you know that millions of people all acting in their own self interest don't know? That education of the poor is important, perhaps? In reality, I'm pretty sure they do know that. Which is why they vote for politicians ensure the poor are educated, regardless of the fact that that can't necessarily pay for it at the time. They don't rely purely on laissez-faire capitalism to determine all our social policies.

kelseyfrog 2y ago

Parent is saying that people with more money can affect the price signal more. That simply isn't as fair as weighting individuals equally. A lot of people don't like the economic impacts of this, so they tend to justify it rather than accept it as valid criticism.

qeternity 2y ago
> That simply isn't as fair as weighting individuals equally. It isn't meant to be fair. Fairness blunts the signal.
- kelseyfrog 2y ago
  Too bad. I mean it to be fair

jltsiren 2y ago

A weighted average can be very different from the unweighted average. In our current society, children can benefit from the wealth and social connections of their parents. That gives the needs of some people additional weight in the market without any actual merit. To get rid of that market distortion, children would have to be raised collectively without any contact to their parents. There is a lot of wealth that has been created with business practices that later became illegal. Because we prefer not to punish people for actions that were legal at the time, we let people keep that wealth. But if we want the market to prioritize the needs of the current society, such wealth would have to be confiscated. A society where the market actually reflects the needs of the society would be incredibly dystopian.

rstuart4133 2y ago

> What do you know that millions of people all acting in their own self interest don't know? That education of the poor is important, perhaps? In reality, I'm pretty sure they do know that. Which is why they vote for politicians ensure the poor are educated, regardless of the fact that that can't necessarily pay for it at the time. They don't rely purely on laissez-faire capitalism to determine all our social policies.