Lesson #192 - Evil corporations and consumer protection - Part 2 of 3
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PEELING BACK THE LAYERS – CNT’D
Extrapolations
Yet another common complaint against evil, evil corporations is the example of (insert your favorite first name here) where this person was cheated by (insert name of your most despised evil corporation here) for (insert an outrageous amount of money here) and therefore all corporations are evil and must be controlled or limited by the state.
In other words, many people get the impression…
Lesson #191 - Evil corporations and consumer protection - Part 1 of 3
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A topic that usually scares people when reading about Austrian Economics and the free market is the notion that once governments are gone they will be at the mercy of those evil, evil corporations. And then, who is going to protect us, poor, poor consumers?
FUD – FEAR, UNCERTAINTY AND DOUBT
How a free market truly operates (or more precisely, how it feels) is difficult to understand because it requires…
Lesson #190 - Austro-Libertarian morals and ethics - Part 3 of 3
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MORAL OR ETHICAL SCALES
Does morality or ethics exist?
The next question we need to answer if we want to compare different Economic systems is simple: does morality or ethics exist? This is, is morality or ethics something basic to human beings or is it an add-on, something we made up? If it is artificial, it can be ignored or replaced with something else. If it is basic to our…
Lesson #189 - Austro-Libertarian morals and ethics - Part 2 of 3
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ABOUT MORALITY AND ETHICS
The homogeneic view
Economic Theories that treat humans as similar parts (cogs if you like) of a great machine, invariably end up justifying ends by this view, whichever those ends may be. The goal of society always trumps the goal of the individual because the ultimate goal of society is to perfect itself. Hence, any and all obstacles from this lofty goal must be removed and…
Lesson #188 - Austro-Libertarian morals and ethics - Part 1 of 3
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In our little corner of Austrian Economics and Libertarianism we were very clear from the beginning that our approach is neither Moral nor Ethical. It must necessarily be so because these concepts are subjective and personal, hence variable from person to person. In order for a political or economic system to have a chance of adoption, it must answer to basic and universal needs. Our goal is to show you…
Lesson #187 - Planes, trains and automobiles - Part 4 of 4
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TRAFFIC RULES
OMG! Traffic would a disaster! Who would place traffic signs and design and agree to traffic rules? That would be a disaster! Well… rubbish!
Standardization and interconnection
There are many instances throughout the world where competing companies standardize to achieve mutual benefits. The same will happen with roads. There are two reasons why people would own roads: to access their property and to generate profits.
Those accessing their…
Lesson #186 - Planes, trains and automobiles - Part 3 of 4
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ROADS FOR CIVILIZATION
Yet another excuse that you may hear when talking to statists is that roads help civilization or society or people. It would seem that if there is a town in the middle of nowhere, created by people by their own choice, the “correct” (?) thing to do is to end their isolation by building a communicating road. We need to do so regardless of everybody else’s responsibility…
Lesson #185 - Planes, trains and automobiles - Part 2 of 4
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TODAY
The system of roads and highways we have today in pretty much any country in the world, are the direct descendants of the political decisions taken between 1600’s and 1800’s. Let’s point this out again: political decisions.
As politicians are vote maximize, their objective is not rationality or common or economic sense, but getting re-elected. As such, roads represent this goal. What was originally a clear need (i.e. to transport…
Lesson #184 - Planes, trains and automobiles - Part 1 of 4
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Such is the title of a 1987 comedy movie starring Steve Martin and John Candy (two of our favorite actors). And no, we have not gone crazy overnight. And no, we are not switching careers to become movie critics. This movie, however funny it may be, summarizes one simple and critical economic fact: the need for transportation. Logistics, so to speak. The unglamorous cousin of manufacturing. Moving goods and services…
