Suppose I’m a hiring manager. And I’m interviewing for an open position. Can I legitimately use the fact that one of the candidates showed up for the interview in his pajamas as a reason not to consider him for employment?
How about if one of the candidates pulls out a cigarette and lights up. How about that? Can I use that fact to disqualify a candidate?
So, if I can discriminate against jammy wearing smokers, why can’t I discriminate against people who won’t go and get a job?
The other day I asked if we could incent people to cross a reasonably busy freeway by growing the financial reward for doing so? For example, line 1000 people up on an interstate highway and place $5 on the other side. Some number of people, maybe zero, will try to cross to claim that $5.
Now make it $500. More people will try to cross for $500 than will try for $5.
We all agree. We get it.
In short, we know that incentives matter.
Go back to the scenario. Suppose that the financial reward for crossing the freeway became large enough that a relatively significant number of people made the attempt. And one of them was struck by a car and perished as a result.
Who is to blame?
Assume:
Do we all agree that more people will cross the freeway as the amount of money on the other side increases?
A most excellent development in the whole Occupy movement has occurred here in Raleigh. See, the young socialists had been thinking that they could just camp on public grounds; the capital being public, the idea was they could just stay there.
Well, it turns out that the good people of North Carolina don’t want the Occupy people clogging up and cluttering up the State Capital with their nonsense and noise. The city and the State has said that they have to move on.
So, they did. And where did they move to?
Raleigh, N.C. — Protesters with the Occupy Raleigh movement moved into a more permanent base camp last week, thanks to a local business owner who saw his new tenants as a capitalist opportunity.
Rob Baumgart, who owns a Sprint and Nextel sales company called Chatterbox Communications, is leasing a 2,500-square-foot lot near the corner of West and Edenton streets, not far from downtown. He’s charging $400 a month to the group of about 15 people who have braved the cold and rain to camp out for their cause.
It’s what any small businessman who believes in making money would do, he said.
“That’s $400 that I didn’t have last month, and if the city allows me to continue doing it for 12 months, that’s $4,800,” Baumgart said Tuesday. “I don’t know a single American who would turn down $4,800 a year.”
Excellent news!
The young protesters protesting the evils of capitalism are now going to get a first hand look at running something. See, ow that they pay rent, they are going to expect that members contribute. See, every month that rent check is gonna come due and they are gonna need their friends to chip in. Or but out.
We’ve seen how this plays out in other OWS encampments around the country. We see in NYC that the haves and the have nots don’t always see eye to eye. In Portland Oregon folks have been angry that people who don’t contribute to the movement are glomming on to the free food and shelter.
The sooner these kids can see that organizations require real leaders, the better they, and we, will be.
Posted in Economics, Idiots on Parade, Liberty, Life
Tagged Capitalism, Occupy Raleigh, OWS
I’ve reflected on the discovery of free markets o the part of Broadway and the airlines. I can’t help but feel that the attitude of the Liberal is to rejoice that the Arts will enjoy increased revenues to further their artistic causes while the same activity by the airlines will be reviled as further evidence of corporate greed.
Ugh.
Friday I mocked the Liberals who dominate Broadway theater for their embracing market pricing for their tickets. I was correctly mocked back in the comments for not calling out traditional conservative bastions for equal failure.
Well, critics all here is your reward.
Greedy corporate pig airlines discover capitalism:
Fliers can still choose between window and aisle seats on Delta Air Lines, but they’ll have to pay extra if those spots are near the front of the plane.
Economy passengers can now pay $9 or $29 for these prime seats, depending on the length of the flight. They were previously only available to frequent fliers in the airline’s Medallion program.
Other airlines such as US Airways, Sun Country and American Airlines already charge for window and aisle seats. The fee for premier seating is the latest in a string of surcharges by airlines. The fees have generated billions of dollars in extra revenue and have helped offset rising fuel costs.
I’ve long lamented the lack of markets in airline seating. As airlines are continually being squeezed for revenues by the competition, they are looking to gain efficiencies wherever they can. And part of that is scheduling flights as tightly as possible. Often I find myself looking at a connecting flight with only 20-40 minutes to catch it. I NEED to sit in the aisle and up front. At other times I’ve scheduled my flight the day before and am in a position where I can sit in the back without a problem.
There has to be a better way than randomly assigning seats or even setting up an “e-bay’esque” type of event like Southwest does. And for a long time I’ve told my poor suffering wife that “the market would set them free”. Now, of course, I’ve always wanted them to set up a market where I could sell my seat position with the airline taking a cut. But I guess this was inevitable.
In short, the market will allow people who need to be up front to be there while giving the folks who don’t need to be there the ability to well, not be.
An occasional commentator and Economics Professor here in North Carolina recently posted that the Alabama Immigration law is suppressing jobs in that state. As proof, he cited this article:
(CNN) — Fierce critics of Alabama’s controversial new immigration law — and one of its staunchest supporters — are pointing to the arrest of a German Mercedes-Benz executive last week to make their case.
Police in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, pulled the man over because of a problem with the tag on the rental car he was driving, and then detained him when he didn’t have proper identification on hand, according to Alabama’s homeland security director.
Somehow, this is sufficient evidence that immigration laws in Alabama are keeping jobs out of the State. However, even the article doesn’t think that’s the case:
[Senator] Brewbaker told CNN that requiring immigrants and foreign visitors to carry identification is common around the globe.
“I know a good many people with Hyundai and companies like that have gone to live in Korea. They say, ‘We’re expected to carry our papers with us because we’re foreigners,'” he said. “That’s the standard worldwide. I don’t want Alabama to be any more onerous on visitors, as long as they’re legally present, than anywhere else.”
Yes, of course. Let us not forget that it’s a Federal Offense not to carry paperwork demonstrating that you are in America legally. A Federal Offense. It’s against the law. If you are in America legally as a foreign visitor, you are breaking the law if you don’t carry paper work on your body.
But I get the point. After all, the Mercedes executive was Hispanic and we all know that the Republicans are just racist haters:
For state Sen. Dick Brewbaker — one of the law’s backers — the arrest shows that officers aren’t racially profiling and that the state is enforcing the same types of requirements other countries have.
“This police officer in Tuscaloosa, he sure didn’t pull that guy over because he looked Hispanic,” Brewbaker told CNN. “He was just enforcing the law.”
See..? Wait? What?
The guy was pulled over for a crime, was asked to provide documentation and then arrested and he WASN’T Hispanic?
Stop it.
But I’m sure he was thrown into prison, tortured and has yet to be released. Right?
“The incident was resolved when our colleague — who was visiting from Germany on business — was able to provide his driver’s license and other documents to Tuscaloosa Police,” the company said.
What a burden! The man had to show documents proving he was who he said he was. And then released.
If anything, the Alabama law is CREATING jobs. Alabama farm workers are leaving the state in droves creating a shortage of harvesters. A shortage that the farmers are unable to fill with native American workers.
Indeed.
Open Question:
Would you be more or less likely to look for a new job if your current job no longer offered vacations and holidays?
I’ve seen people drive all over creation to find a gas station that sells gas for $0.02 cheaper than they can get at their local fill-up. In fact, they’ll spend 15 minutes to obtain cheaper petrol. I see the same thing with folks wanting to buy a CD, or a book or a video game.
People react to price variance, often outrageously so.
Further, I acknowledge that we need to pay for roads. Society needs to be burdened to cover the cost of building and maintaining this infrastructure. Currently we use gas taxes to cover this. However, with the advent of more fuel efficient cars, and all electric cars as well, that tax may no longer be appropriate. It is continuing to fall short of requirements, though I suspect this is in large part due to the fact that gas taxes fund other things besides roads and bridges, and so another method is required.
I think that method is tolls.
We have long ago mastered the technology that allows us to gather and collect tolls without having to stop at toll booths thereby slowing traffic. We can do this automatically and accurately. Now the only thing preventing us is fear of change.
By tolling a rod we are able to directly collect funds from the vehicles using those roads. AND we can tax some vehicles more than others. For example, an 18-wheeler is going to impact our highways much more than a Prius. We can tax the truck more. And, from a capacity perspective, we are able to tax our roads in order to increase capacity.
As I mentioned above, people will go to great lengths to avoid even a small increase in price. It is my expectation that as we increase the cost of driving on a road during peak times, fewer people will drive during those times. This will spread traffic out more evenly and allow for much more traffic on our roads than we currently experience.
And I’m glad North Carolina is going to experiment with this use:
Raleigh, N.C. — Growing congestion on Interstate 540 could require an expansion of the state’s first toll road, part of which is set to open to traffic next month, a regional transportation planner said Wednesday.
The Triangle Expressway is an 18-mile stretch of road that includes the western part of 540. Tolling is scheduled to begin in January on a 3.4-mile stretch that runs through Research Triangle Park
The rest of 540 is currently free, but planner Chris Lukasina said that could change in the future.
The long-term plan for the road, slated for completion around 2035, includes widening it from six lanes to eight, Lukasina said. Two of those lanes could become toll lanes, with varying costs throughout the day depending on traffic.
“At different times of day, or as congestion picks up or slows down, they can change the toll on that particular lane,” Lukasina said.
In other words, drivers will be able to pay their way into a faster lane.
I’ll be fascinated to see how this works.
.
Posted in Economics, Energy, Politics: North Carolina
Tagged North Carolina, Tax, Toll Road
I, of course, have no problem with this practice. I do, however, find it deliciously ironic that the delicate Lefties that enjoy and embrace theater are so willing to allow such an evil concept as “free market pricing” to invade their world. Then again perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Conservatives are more charitable than Libbers. And while the charity of choice for the cons is the church, the charity of choice for the libs is the arts.
Anyway, it appears that Broadway shows are not meant for the 99%.
The producers of Hugh Jackman’s song-and-dance-and-bump-and-grind show on Broadway were so bullish about his popularity that, even before the first performance last month, they raised prices from $155 to $175 on dozens of orchestra seats for the 10-week run. The bet is now paying off handsomely, so much so that the producers are increasing premium prices for the best seats in the house: what were $250 tickets are now going for $275, $325 or even $350, depending on the demand at particular performances.
I happen to think that this is a wildly fantastic idea. I think that people who sell tennis shoes should charge what the market would bear. I think the same thing about pumpkins and pencils as well. That Broadway shows be exempt is silly to me.
And roof that this works?
“Have I ever paid anything close to $600 for a pair of tickets? No,” John Joyce of Rockville Centre, N.Y., volunteered on Monday after mulling a range of prices at the Broadhurst Theater box office. “But my wife wants to see Hugh. It’s the holidays and it’s a surprise for her. So I think it’s worth it.”
So I think it’s worth it.
But doesn’t this type of free market based capitalism negatively impact the theater?
…a supply-and-demand strategy that is a primary reason why Broadway has weathered the economic downturn unusually well.
To the contrary. Because of this strategy, the industry is booming and allowing all kinds of people to enjoy continued economic success.
And perhaps the most inspiring aspect to the story is how these Lefties have intuited and come to an understanding of what this all about. See, in the past, when these shows would sell tickets at dictated prices, not market based prices, tickets would be scooped up by companies and resold at their proper level. But this only benefited the ticket resellers and the consumer; not the producers of the shows, the folks who performed and invested money. This now is taken care of:
The producers of Mr. Jackman’s show said they turned to dynamic pricing to help ensure that their investors and creative team — not ticket resellers — would be the ones profiting from high-cost tickets.
“People are prepared to pay a lot more than we’re charging, but nobody in the theater industry would have benefited,” said Robert E. Wankel, president of the Shubert Organization, a producer of Mr. Jackman’s show and the Broadway landlord for his theater. (It is Broadway theater owners who take the lead in setting ticket prices, with input from producers.) “By doing it through dynamic pricing, at least the people who do the work and took the risk are getting some benefits.”
See? They understand. They understand that the people who work and risk ought be rewarded. This is very consistent with what we believe should take place in other markets as well.