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Topic Review (Newest First)

  • 07-22-2010, 01:47 AM
    bruce dickinson

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    back in the "goold ole days", all of the companies that did utility work here were run by 2nd generation italian americans. They also belonged to the sons of italy.

    the bosses would get together, and decide which company was going to get what work, while the other rival firms put together fake bids to make it look like it was honest.

    good scam. everyone was happy, everyone made a fortune.
  • 07-22-2010, 01:14 AM
    rothbard

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    Wrong about what?
  • 07-21-2010, 11:54 PM
    alkalinesolo

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    No, because those actions don't automatically lead to the government doing it - that only happens when the government is overzealous, which has been the case recently but isn't a guarantee.
  • 07-21-2010, 09:13 PM
    |3illy the |<

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    It's illegal to do so. Everyone should care. You can't collude and fix prices.
    A single company artificially raising prices isn't a concern, because there are other immediate competitors. When all competitors from an area decide they are going to collude and constrict supply to increase prices....they are acting outside the interest of competitive markets. Monopolies aren't inherently illegal. When a monopoly acts anti-competitively or in a manner where they start excessively raising prices...then there's an issue.



    It's still anti-competitive. If everyone starts seeking alternative sources of eggs the prices of eggs across the board go up because the supply is being constricted by the collusion.

    Now I know you hate gov't intervention of any kind, but it's illegal to be anti-competitive by colluding to fix prices.
  • 07-21-2010, 07:32 PM
    Surefire

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    This was also part of my point: if the business requires the government, then how is one really worse than the other? You act as though the action taken by the group NO ONE CAN STOP was solely possible because of the group NO ONE CAN STOP.

    In reality, the actions of the first group are what starts the chain reaction. Calling the watchdog worse because it's reaction cannot be countered as easily as those of its charges, completely misses the point of why any of this has to happen.

    Which is dangerously close to bovine servility. If you have examples of the watchdog exceeding it's duties, then post them. In general, if the authority does not respond to the valid critiques leveled at it, it is not serving its role and tends to be seated with new people come the next election.

    Of course, little is immune to the whims of a mob, and mobs tend not to know what is in their best interest. In fact, they tend to have very limited, self-centered interests in mind. In that event, the authority gets retooled whether it needs it, does not, might cease to function, or some combination of the three.

    This idea of yours, that whatever the watchdog does is worse because there is no level of control directly above it (that you can discern anyway) smells like fear. The kind that comes from knowing the inherent ability of man to be dishonorable, backhanded, selfish, greedy. Yet your answer is to set your sights on the one crystallization that first jumps out at you, which is the inherent possibility represented by the watchdog, the governmental authority peopled by individuals, who invariably cannot be trusted outright.

    Instead of addressing the problem, which is the behavior itself, you would jeer accusingly at the boogeyman you see presented in the authority...because the thought stopped at 'well no one can be trusted'- thus, those with the authority are somehow less trustworthy than those it is their job to keep trustworthy.

    This mindset leads to the weakening of the authority, in forming itself around pointless and thoughtless boundaries, imposed by an impulsive and illogical distrust from those who have no control over it...according to you. Those people, being you and I, are not served by a blind tool anymore than we are in ignoring the first, most untrustworthy action that took place. That of the man or men who, knowing full well they might be caught, tried anyway. While you bicker about what the government does, or shouldn't do, the people responsible for that agency's existence spend millions to ply those who make up your tools with trips, cash, support, just about anything needed. Those lobbyists and 'friends' come with flattering words, supportive hands outstretched...you, and those like you who unknowingly argue idiotic platitudes like 'the government did it so it must be worse'-you bitch from the sidelines, offering only criticism, scorn, or mindless cheering when your basic nether regions get fondled.


    And then set yourselves on fire when the government doesn't listen. When the people, who make it up, have turned a deaf ear to the idiocy being thrown at them. Idiots like Jindal, who's last big answer was 'Americans can do anything', and now knows all about what needs to be done in the current crisis. He might look very effective in his life-vest and rolled up sleeves, but the real push here is politics. Just a nice image to sell idiots who, as Wal-Mart proves uptidy millions of times a day, don't really care where it comes from. Just how much they have to put in to have it.
  • 07-21-2010, 07:26 PM
    rothbard

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    Vertical price fixing is completely legal. Horizontal price fixing is not.


    Regardless, companies do have a right to charge whatever they want for their products. Just because a government comes in and says they can't, doesn't mean they don't have the right. Governments trample upon rights. Fuck your legality.
  • 07-21-2010, 07:14 PM
    OMNI-MAN

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    yeah, everybody loves cheapass junk that has to be thrown away in a year so you can buy new cheapass junk again!
  • 07-21-2010, 06:44 PM
    alkalinesolo

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

  • 07-21-2010, 06:39 PM
    bruce dickinson

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    LOL.

    would you like for companies to bid rig too, and steal taxpayer money?
  • 07-21-2010, 06:26 PM
    alkalinesolo

    Big food at it again V. Price fixing and why we don't trust big business

    THAT'S MY POINT! If big business does it there is someone with more power than them that can say "no no no, you can't do that". If the government does it, NO ONE CAN STOP THEM.
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