Originally Posted by
sickboy
http:///forum/post/2745930
Well, I think you have some good ideas, but that doesn't mean I believe in your entire philosophy. You can't form a reasonable opinion without thinking about the counter-argument, and I think some of the things, NOT ALL, that Marx said make sense.
And yes, I don't think the market does a very good job redistributing wealth. I believe in a free-market with government checks, not just a free-market.
Call me a socialist all you want, I'm not, but whatever. And besides, have you looked at the recent competitiveness rankings? Socialist countries are beating the U.S. So I guess the argument of no motivation has gone out the window.
umm, having not seen competitiveness rankings in the recent past, I did google it.
http://www.weforum.org/en/initiative...port/index.htm
I have no idea what the agenda of the World Economic Forum is. However they didn't rank china first... And that is what they would have had to do to beat the usa...
The funny thing is, you've argued that capitalism assumes that people are inherently good. But in order for a redistribution of wealth system to work you have assume people will work despite not having a reason not to work. You have to assume people (with no incentive) will work for the greater good. Remember the risk thing? That you said you agreed with. Without the risk of not eating people will not work.
Originally Posted by sickboy
http:///forum/post/2745964
Well, you have to figure in that one of them is from Houston. That city is BOOMING! Why? Ties with energy. They gain from others pain, and in this case, the trickle down effect seems to be working great!
I read a great article on the city recently about this, and the thing that stuck out in my mind the most is the fact that they have 40% more engineers and architects than most cities. That is a sign of major prosperity. Also the median home price is about $150,000, which compared to other main business towns is incredibly cheap. I'm not sure that you could get a condo in manhattan for this little amount. They are doing great, but a survey of other parts of the country are not that optimistic.
You have still yet to tell me why the economy on a whole is doing bad. you just mock where I moved to, in order to find a job. hmmm
And how again, does Houston, prove supply side economics don't work?
This may be hard to follow but,
Think about it, the energy sector which Houston is highly tied to is booming...
The point of supply side economics is that if government isn't taking the money in taxes then the company will spend more money by hiring people, investing into their own business to make more money. Likewise a major increase in the price of the product you're selling will achieve the same effect.
Houston, has one of the lowest unemployment rates of a major city in the USA. And this is despite a significant increase of uneducated labor displaced by Katrina. Finding employees is soo difficult, the company I work for is offering a 4 k finders fee to their employees.
If you want proof of redistribution of wealth not working you don't have to look far. Europe has fully implemented redistribution of wealth concept along with a more keynesian market control approach. You guys run around saying our economy sucks, when we are seeing on target growth and a low unemployment rates. Meanwhile the EU has an 8-10% unemployment rate and lower growth rates than we are experiencing. Mean while cost of living is significantly higher than the USA without the salaries to match. Then you have places like china, the USSR that really take the Marx idea to completion. And we can all see how they are doing...
