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Why the downvotes? This comment’s dead accurate.

cema 6y ago
I am not sure about the down votes (no reason for them in my opinion) but the casual jab at capitalism looks gratuitous and does not help making the argument seem stronger.
- blacktriangle 6y ago
  Not to mention its objectively wrong.
  - chris_wot 6y ago
    Except a. it’s not casual, it’s part of a thought through argument (which you can disagree with), and b. you fail to explain why he is wrong.
- Bakary 6y ago
  It's not gratuitous if it is central to the argument. The state of affairs they describe is dependent on a virtualized capitalist economy being in place.
treeman79 6y ago
Pure Capitalism punishes wasteful spending. Assume company A sells a widget for 10 silver Then company B comes along and sells same widget for 3 silver. Company A will either learn to be more efficient and sell at 2-3 silver, or go out of business.
- afiori 6y ago
  This is quite a simplistic view of capitalism. Consider the Moloch effect[1] where rational choices in environments with hard coordination problems can lead to degenerating incentives. Capitalism is not the same as free market; capitalism is rather a system where your economic power is mainly determinated by the amount of capital you have (money, investments, means of productions...) rather than class, bloodline, titles, popularity, or legislative regulations[2]. Capitalism is linked to free market in that they work well together: free markets want enterpreneuers to be compete for efficient capital gains and people with capital like how their economical power is only bounded by their capital (with the potential of an exponential growth). Apart from this ether can exist without the other. This is how supporters would like them to work together, but there can be a lot of bugs and traps on the way. [1]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ [2]: This last one would be the characteristic of planned markets
- thewarrior 6y ago
  Perfect competition only happens in text books. In the real world monopolies, oligopolies, regulatory capture, control over social connections and capital, markets with asymmetric information (VCs vs public, employees vs companies), management consecrating itself into a class with its own interests , mean that companies can go on for 10-15 years before they are punished. By the time the market wakes up you’ve switched 3 times and after 10 times you’re retired in the suburbs with a nice BMW. Who cares then.

cema 6y ago

I am not sure about the down votes (no reason for them in my opinion) but the casual jab at capitalism looks gratuitous and does not help making the argument seem stronger.

blacktriangle 6y ago
Not to mention its objectively wrong.
- chris_wot 6y ago
  Except a. it’s not casual, it’s part of a thought through argument (which you can disagree with), and b. you fail to explain why he is wrong.
Bakary 6y ago
It's not gratuitous if it is central to the argument. The state of affairs they describe is dependent on a virtualized capitalist economy being in place.

treeman79 6y ago

Pure Capitalism punishes wasteful spending. Assume company A sells a widget for 10 silver Then company B comes along and sells same widget for 3 silver. Company A will either learn to be more efficient and sell at 2-3 silver, or go out of business.

afiori 6y ago
This is quite a simplistic view of capitalism. Consider the Moloch effect[1] where rational choices in environments with hard coordination problems can lead to degenerating incentives. Capitalism is not the same as free market; capitalism is rather a system where your economic power is mainly determinated by the amount of capital you have (money, investments, means of productions...) rather than class, bloodline, titles, popularity, or legislative regulations[2]. Capitalism is linked to free market in that they work well together: free markets want enterpreneuers to be compete for efficient capital gains and people with capital like how their economical power is only bounded by their capital (with the potential of an exponential growth). Apart from this ether can exist without the other. This is how supporters would like them to work together, but there can be a lot of bugs and traps on the way. [1]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ [2]: This last one would be the characteristic of planned markets
thewarrior 6y ago
Perfect competition only happens in text books. In the real world monopolies, oligopolies, regulatory capture, control over social connections and capital, markets with asymmetric information (VCs vs public, employees vs companies), management consecrating itself into a class with its own interests , mean that companies can go on for 10-15 years before they are punished. By the time the market wakes up you’ve switched 3 times and after 10 times you’re retired in the suburbs with a nice BMW. Who cares then.