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I think it would be safe to say that most people that buy/bought into Reaganomics would say they are Capitalists. Isn't it competition that makes capitalism (an

by jrs235 14y ago

I think it would be safe to say that most people that buy/bought into Reaganomics would say they are Capitalists. Isn't it competition that makes capitalism (and innovation) flourish? So how does reducing competition (via allocating most/more of the resources to those that already have "the most") benefit a capitalist society? Look what happens when a few large companies control an industry. Look at cable/internet companies. Look at wireless carriers. Look at monitor manufacturers. We see collusion to keep prices higher than they "ought" to be and sluggish innovation and growth. The large entities tend to favor more regulations that increase the barriers of entry to competitors (but vocally saying they dislike regulations... bs.) Comfortable people tend to favor the status quo, dislike shake ups, and don't want to have "work" to maintain their condition.

pdonis 14y ago
Isn't it competition that makes capitalism (and innovation) flourish? I would agree that competition helps innovation to flourish. I'm not so sure about capitalism, because the word "capitalism" can mean different things. Concentrating resources in the hands of a few large corporations can be viewed as "capitalism"; that's how the robber barons in the late 19th century in the US viewed it. There is also government interference involved (as you imply with your comment about regulations). For example, those same robber barons did not make their money through fair competition; they made it by getting the government to outlaw fair competition, for example by handing out exclusive rights to run railroads through various parts of the country. Similar remarks apply to some of the other examples you give--cable/internet companies, for example, are largely local government-granted monopolies. (Wireless carriers are too, to an extent--for example, Verizon has an exclusive deal to put repeaters in the Washington, DC Metro tunnels, so their phones can get a signal but nobody else's can. Result: lots more commuters have Verizon phones.)

by jrs235 14y ago

pdonis 14y ago

Isn't it competition that makes capitalism (and innovation) flourish? I would agree that competition helps innovation to flourish. I'm not so sure about capitalism, because the word "capitalism" can mean different things. Concentrating resources in the hands of a few large corporations can be viewed as "capitalism"; that's how the robber barons in the late 19th century in the US viewed it. There is also government interference involved (as you imply with your comment about regulations). For example, those same robber barons did not make their money through fair competition; they made it by getting the government to outlaw fair competition, for example by handing out exclusive rights to run railroads through various parts of the country. Similar remarks apply to some of the other examples you give--cable/internet companies, for example, are largely local government-granted monopolies. (Wireless carriers are too, to an extent--for example, Verizon has an exclusive deal to put repeaters in the Washington, DC Metro tunnels, so their phones can get a signal but nobody else's can. Result: lots more commuters have Verizon phones.)