Tag Archives: Free Market

Light Rail: Seattle, WA

Posted on June 25, 2011 | 11 comments

Light-rail and high-speed trains have long been the darling of the Left.  If some local or state government can come up with a plan to build trains, the Left is only TOO anxious to deliver the money.

Rail corridor between Raleigh and DC? Done!

Charlotte and Atlanta?  Done!

Roanoke and Durham. Done!

I admit that I’m flummoxed by this fixation.  But let’s take a look:

The idea is based on two angles:

  1. If we can move more people from here to there on a train, we’ll decrease the amount of fossil fuel burned.
  2. It creates jobs.

How much of this is true?  And to the extent that it IS true, what price are people willing to pay?

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11 Comments

Posted in Economics, Energy, Transportation

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How To Impact The Price Of Oil

Posted on June 24, 2011 | 16 comments

The price of oil fell yesterday.  In fact, it fell to a recent low after losing about 6% of its price in a single day.

A single day.

A new find?  A long term commitment from OPEC to increase production?  An announcement from Venezuela that it would end its gasoline subsidies in that country to ease demand and therefore apply downward pressure on prices?

Nope.

None of that.  In fact, it was a simple single one day event.

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16 Comments

Posted in Economics, Energy, Politics: International

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Thought Experiment

Posted on June 14, 2011 | 6 comments

Okay, okay.  For a second, close your eyes and follow along.

Wait.

Doesn’t work in this medium.

Read this and THEN close your eyes and think through the scenarios.

Or whatever.

Consider dinner.  Fine dining at a fancy schmancy restaurant.

Over the course there will be 1000 people served.  They can come in tables of 2 or or 4.  1 or more even.  Doesn’t matter.  Now, consider these two scenarios:

  1. The price of dinner will be carried by the individual.  That is, when the meal is over, the waiter will bring the check.  One check for each individual.
  2. The price of dinner will be carried by the group.  That is, when the meal is over, the waiter will charge the account.  When all 1000 people have eaten, the total bill will be divided by 1000 and each person will recieve a bill in the mail.

These two methods of payment are going to cover the cost of the whole experience.  Appetizers, desserts, cocktails and even valet parking – heck, coat check too.

Now, here is the question:

Under which scenario would you expect the restaurant to sell more desserts in?

How about appetizers?

For extra credit, explain your answer.

6 Comments

Posted in Economics

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Green Energy: Biodiesel And The Free Market

Posted on May 31, 2011 | 1 comment

We’ve seen copper prices go through the roof.  And we’ve seen copper thieves thrive.

We’ve seen gasoline prices go through the roof.  And we’ve seen gasoline thieves thrive.

We see the same thing everywhere we look.  The price of a thing goes up, the market [even black] reacts.

Perhaps it’s a coming of age for the biodiesel industry.  But it turns out that as the prices traditional energy sources climbs, the market for alternative energy sources expands.  And in some cases, that actually means there is a black market for those alternative sources.

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1 Comment

Posted in Economics, Energy, Technology

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The Middle Class – Part II

Posted on May 23, 2011 | 6 comments

The middle class. The Great MC.

What is it, how is it defined? Is it growing? Shrinking? Is it, more importantly, being exploited by the rich and the powerful to enable their largess?

Is Obama right? Is it true, in fact, that the folks-the “Us”- are being used and manipulated in some grand game to keep the rich richer?

For me, the rhetoric needs substance; needs some form of validation. There has to be some means by which the idea has a backdrop to judge the truth. There has to be a definition of the middle class that we can use to see if, in fact, what is being said is true. Or not true. And for me, it comes down to two things:

  1. The earnings of the middle class.
  2. The life style, or things, that the middle class can buy.

So, let’s take a look:

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6 Comments

Posted in Economics, Economy, Politics: National

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Free Market Health Care or What Happens When The Free Market Happens

Posted on May 13, 2011 | 4 comments

The Left would have you believe our health care system is jacked.  That it sucks and we pay too much.

In that we pay more than we have too, we pay too much.

Either way, the debate is how do we increase results while decreasing costs?  Contrary to every single iota of anecdotal evidence that the market delivers, the Liberal class continues to want to make the government make it better.  The government.

I present to you, via Care Diem, a better way.

As Mark Perry points out, WhiteGlove will see you the same day.  Government care?

…the average wait time for family medicine is 36 days, up 7 days.

The government has no business doing what business can do better.

4 Comments

Posted in Economics, Government, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly

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2012 Presidential Election: Part I – Barack Obama

Posted on May 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

Fascinating website out there.  A clearing house for all things fun.  intrade.com

I enjoy watching this one.  A perfect example of a boom and bust.  A bubble growing and then correcting.

Note the downward path of the price of Obama Winning in 2012 starting in March of this year.  Then, the “bubble” where Obama took out Osama bin Laden.

Then the correction.

Free markets baby, the free market!

Hat Tip: Mark Perry at Carpe Diem

UPDATE:

Here is another look at the same bubble from Rasmussen:  His polling is 3 days behind due to how he computes polling.

Already back to pre-hit levels.

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Posted in Elections 2012, Politics: National

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Housing Boom and Housing Bust: Federal Loans and Foreclosures

Posted on May 11, 2011 | 14 comments

Remember when houses were worth more than they are now?  Remember when the value of a home would go up almost overnight?  You could buy one on Tuesday and sell it for a profit by Friday.

Yeah…good times.

Until the bubble hit.  And then it wasn’t such good times; in fact it was bad times.  Really bad times.

The housing bubble hit all of us in some way or another.  For many of us, our homes are worth less now than they were before; we still haven’t caught up.  And the economy?  Well, we know how THAT has played out.  So, with the the downside of such a bubble being so, well, down, the lessons we learned just a few short years ago should still be fresh.  Should still be pertinent, right?

Wrong.

Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in Economics, Economy, Lobby/PAC, Politics: National, States Behaving Badly

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So How Is Obama Doin’ With The Economy

Posted on May 8, 2011 | 11 comments

We all wanna compare; we wanna know.  How is one team vs. another?  How am I compared to my peers?  So, it’s only natural that we do the same thing for the economy and how we’re managing our way out of it.

So.  How is Mr. Obama doing?

Well, let’s look.

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11 Comments

Posted in Economics, Economy, Government, Liberty, Politics: National

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It’s Hard Not To Be A Leftist

Posted on April 30, 2011 | Leave a comment

Or, Republicans Can Be Leftists Too!

We all want to what we think is the best for the folks under our care; at least I HOPE that’s what we wanna do.  Now, I understand that at the margin, there are politicians that do enter the system and play the game for the sole purpose of enriching themselves, either with power or money–or both.

By and large, however, I think they play the game in an effort to serve well.

And often times serving well means, or can mean, parenting.

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Posted in Health Care, Liberty, Politics: National, Republicans Can Be Leftists Too, States Behaving Badly

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