Less is More

MANDATORY MARCUS

Seems like the popular argument these days is that capitalism is bad and free markets have failed.  Somehow or another the blame for the financial crisis, unemployment and the lack of affordable health care has been laid squarely at the feet of "free markets". 

I won't bother to take the time necessary to explain how there hasn't been a lot of freedom in these alleged "free markets" for quite some time.  Instead I will simply say that anyone who thinks that the market has failed in these areas should examine the details a bit closer.

Take health care as one example; if you don't think markets can help address the issue of affordable health care you can start defending that position by explaining away your local pharmacy.  Your local pharmacy is that place you can go and get free advice from a Pharmacist before you buy exceedingly reasonably priced remedies for the flu, a cold, fever, toothache, stomach aches, dry eyes, minor cuts and scrapes, headaches, sunburns etc. etc. the list could go on and on.

But that isn't really the point of my thoughts today.  The point is how well markets can work when we let them.  I happened to walk into an Office Depot last week where I passed by something called a Netbook; which is a 2.5lb mini laptop complete with Windows XP, a 160GB hard drive, 1GB of memory, wireless connectivity and hours of battery life all for between $299 - $399 depending on some options you choose.

Then there's the Amazon Kindle.  For $299 you can buy an electronic book reader with access to more than 300,000 books (and growing), get free wireless access to download books in under 60 seconds and purchase the typical hardback for under $10 instead of the usual $25.

What you don't find with these products are factions within government mandating that every Netbook be equipped exactly the same way.  Or government regulations mandating that every electronic reader deliver their content for a specified price, or that all content available on one reader be provided to every other reader.  In other words we don't do to these products what we have done to health insurance, trade, education etc.....you know, nearly all the industries firmly under the thumb of some government agency.

Left to its own devices the market has made it possible for you to have computing power in a 2.5lb mini laptop for around $300; where five years ago it would have cost you around $3,000 and weighed 8.6lbs like my Sony Vaio VGN-A190 (512mb memory, 80GM hard drive and nearly non-existent battery life).  And to have, literally at your fingertips, hundreds of thousands of books at substantially discounted prices.  For under $700 and in less than 3.5lbs of equipment you can have all the computing power most of us will ever need and store 1,500 complete books on a single device.

So...market driven innovations continuously drive prices down...but somehow nearly everything the government has oversight of becomes more expensive.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be rules to prevent fraud, require disclosure etc...but I'm perfectly willing to take my chances with what the market comes up with (absent intrusive government intervention) on most issues. 

Those of you who find the market distasteful, inefficient, unfair etc. may want to ask yourselves what delivers more value to you in more ways...those money grubbing greed mongering capitalists who are behind things like the computer you are reading this on, the car you drive, the air conditioning you enjoy, the music you listen to, the medicine you take, the clothes you wear etc. OR those wise, fair minded, popularly elected government officials who are behind things like the post office, the DMV, the VA, Social Security, tax policy etc.

As with most things, when it comes to government...less is more.

That Flushing Sound

MANDATORY MARCUS

I'm going to have to stop reading the news and throw my TV out the window...or learn some deep breathing relaxation techniques.

Not only do I get to sit back and watch our government continue to seek out ever more inefficient ways to waste money in the name of stimulating the economy...I also get to watch the programs and services we're already paying for waste as much as humanly possible.

Let's start with the Cash for Clunkers program that has managed to unnecessarily burn through billions of dollars to accomplish little more than subsidizing auto purchases for people who would probably have been buying new cars in the next six months anyway.  A complete waste.  And now they are paying the dealers involved via IOU's instead of cash. 

The dealers have to pay the rebate out of pocket and then wait for reimbursement from the government.  Click here
to get the specific info on how car dealers are getting IOU's in lieu of the cash.

No Way....!!!  You mean the government isn't paying money it owes to people working through its very own government sponsored program?!?  What do you suppose would happen if I sent in an IOU in lieu of my taxes this year?

How about that post office?  You know the post office...that place you go when you need to burn 45 minutes on a 5 minute task.  Well they lost a couple billion dollars in the third quarter...to add to the billions already lost in the previous quarters.  How is it that I pay $0.44 to send a letter 40 miles down the road and that contributes to a multi-billion dollar loss...but can head on down to my local grocery store and buy a kiwifruit from New Zealand for about the same price and nobody loses money?

And while we're at it...can somebody explain the logic behind paying taxes on tax refunds?  You get a refund because you paid too much tax to begin with...how does that logic work?

Oh wait...it doesn't.  In fact no logic can explain the travesty that is government being anything more than a referee in a market system.  When the government becomes a player in a market system everybody loses...except of course the folks who are in the government. 

And that is why I'm highly skeptical of a government sponsored health care option.  That and the countless dollars that I see being flushed away on every other program the government has its hands in.

A Tear In My Beer

MANDATORY MARCUS

According to what passes for news these days, some American beer producers were a bit bothered over the fact that at his "Beer Summit", President Obama and his guests Professor Gates and Officer Crowley drank beers produced by foreign companies.

We are talking about the President of the United States aren't we? 

How about we let the most powerful man in the free world drink whatever beer he wants (even if he did pick the white zinfandel of beer) without having to listen to a bunch of whiners cry about the fact that he didn't drink their beer.

For those who actually have a problem with the President's beer selection, here's your solution:

Become President of the United States, have a couple knuckleheads who make embarrassing national spectacles of themselves over to air out their grievances at the White House, then serve up whatever drink you want.

Until then....