This is what's wrong with neoliberalism | 18 comments (18 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: This is what's wrong with neoliberalism (4.00 / 6)

This case is clearly an example of waste! To job the postman gets payed for is obviously to deliver mail. Anything else he does will not bring profit to the Post, which will then not be competing with maximum efficiency in the marketplace. It is worse than this, even. Those old people, since they can rely on the postman, don't contribute to GDP as they would were they to obtain those same services in the proper way, i.e. by paying for them. Also, the 'postman system' is obviously inherently unfair! It may come down to the personal likes and dislikes of the postman, for example, rather than to an unbiased distribution of services based on who can pay for what, which will yield the optimum distribution of such services, and GDP growth.

It was after hurricane Katrina that we were reminded of how 'price gauging' is actually good, with the example of bottled water. The one than needs the water the most will obviously be willing to pay more for it, and the rise in price is therefore beneficial to yield an efficient distribution. Otherwise we would have to rely on the biased judgment of the man with the water. Do you trust him to give it to the most needy? No? Well, I guess then the 'neutral' parameters of 'price' and availability of 'money' to the 'consumer' will have to do!

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Fri Mar 23rd, 2007 at 06:49:31 AM EST

Re: This is what's wrong with neoliberalism (4.00 / 5)

When I get home tonight I'll quote a (literally) textbook example on the price of water. If I forget, shout!

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 23rd, 2007 at 06:55:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This is what's wrong with neoliberalism (4.00 / 5)

How right you are. An example occurred three or four years ago in this part of France, when the new postmaster in a small town at the foot of the mountains realized the shamefully inefficient allocation of resources that was caused by his postpeople's practice of running small errands for people in mountain villages. He immediately understood the appropriate reaction was to bill old ladies without vehicles so much a week for bread-carrying or medicine brought up from the town pharmacie.

Would you believe that the fractious French and their communist unions made such a fuss the case got splashed all over the papers and got on TV and everything? That public-spirited postmaster held on courageously, but in the end had to give up, and I believe was quietly moved elsewhere.

That's France for you. But, with the liberalisation of postal services that will serve to make rural distribution even more wastefully expensive (because not offset by margins made on lower-cost urban operations), logic will prevail and soon the rural French will be lucky if they see a yellow van once a fortnight.

Which is as it should be.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Fri Mar 23rd, 2007 at 07:46:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This is what's wrong with neoliberalism | 18 comments (18 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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