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Somewhere along the lines you got really confused about what the unit of selection in free market economics is. In a theoretically free market, the market doesn

by lbrandy 18y ago

Somewhere along the lines you got really confused about what the unit of selection in free market economics is. In a theoretically free market, the market doesn't make individual companies better. It makes the bad ones die and get replaced by good ones. The fact that their market share has tracked with their customer experience is proof of the theory.

timr 18y ago
Could you be a little more condescending? It's possible to state your opinion without questioning the competence of the person with the opposing view. If you're going to claim that H1B employees are critical for making companies better at producing their products, it would be nice if you were to back up that assertion with something other than ideology and theory. I used only one counter-example (one of the largest H1B employers in the nation, not to mention the subject of the article), but it directly refutes the theory that cheap employees make products cheaper and better. We don't live in a free market. Any theory predicated on that assumption is wrong.
- deleted 18y ago
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- lbrandy 18y ago
  First, I've reread both your and my posts and I have absolutely no earthly idea how you decided _I_ was the one with the condescending tone. Second, you've created a "counter-point" which doesn't even prove what you claim. You think your Microsoft example is "proof" of something and you are indignantly stamping your feet around making demands of others on some self-appointed perch of the intellectual high ground. Companies, markets, and economics are gigantically complicated things and trying to "prove" that H1B employees don't make better or worse companies by using a single example over some non-trivial period of time is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. Absurd, even. Maybe the reason none of us are citing examples is because examples are altogether meaningless. Unless you want to actually do the statistical analysis, control for all the proper variables, and try to make a statistically significant statement at the end, all you'd be doing is talking out of your ass. So, to that end, for the purposes of internet discussion between anonymous people, -theory- is about as good as we are going to do. So excuse me for trying to correct your theoretical mistake while altogether ignoring your anecdotal evidence.
  - timr 18y ago
    "Unless you want to actually do the statistical analysis, control for all the proper variables, and try to make a statistically significant statement at the end, all you'd be doing is talking out of your ass." I've never claimed a proof -- just a counter-example. But more importantly, I stop trying to have civilized discussions with people when they can't summon the maturity to avoid profanity.
    - kragen 18y ago
      In my book, saying things that make sense counts more than not saying "ass".
  - gravitycop 18y ago
    >>> Somewhere along the lines you got really confused >> It's possible to state your opinion without >> questioning the competence of the person with >> the opposing view. > I've reread both your and my posts and I have > absolutely no earthly idea how you decided _I_ > was the one with the condescending tone. You violated the HN guidelines: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names.
- deleted 18y ago
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by lbrandy 18y ago

timr 18y ago

Could you be a little more condescending? It's possible to state your opinion without questioning the competence of the person with the opposing view. If you're going to claim that H1B employees are critical for making companies better at producing their products, it would be nice if you were to back up that assertion with something other than ideology and theory. I used only one counter-example (one of the largest H1B employers in the nation, not to mention the subject of the article), but it directly refutes the theory that cheap employees make products cheaper and better. We don't live in a free market. Any theory predicated on that assumption is wrong.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
lbrandy 18y ago
First, I've reread both your and my posts and I have absolutely no earthly idea how you decided _I_ was the one with the condescending tone. Second, you've created a "counter-point" which doesn't even prove what you claim. You think your Microsoft example is "proof" of something and you are indignantly stamping your feet around making demands of others on some self-appointed perch of the intellectual high ground. Companies, markets, and economics are gigantically complicated things and trying to "prove" that H1B employees don't make better or worse companies by using a single example over some non-trivial period of time is ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. Absurd, even. Maybe the reason none of us are citing examples is because examples are altogether meaningless. Unless you want to actually do the statistical analysis, control for all the proper variables, and try to make a statistically significant statement at the end, all you'd be doing is talking out of your ass. So, to that end, for the purposes of internet discussion between anonymous people, -theory- is about as good as we are going to do. So excuse me for trying to correct your theoretical mistake while altogether ignoring your anecdotal evidence.
- timr 18y ago
  "Unless you want to actually do the statistical analysis, control for all the proper variables, and try to make a statistically significant statement at the end, all you'd be doing is talking out of your ass." I've never claimed a proof -- just a counter-example. But more importantly, I stop trying to have civilized discussions with people when they can't summon the maturity to avoid profanity.
  - kragen 18y ago
    In my book, saying things that make sense counts more than not saying "ass".
- gravitycop 18y ago
  >>> Somewhere along the lines you got really confused >> It's possible to state your opinion without >> questioning the competence of the person with >> the opposing view. > I've reread both your and my posts and I have > absolutely no earthly idea how you decided _I_ > was the one with the condescending tone. You violated the HN guidelines: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names.
deleted 18y ago
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