Don: I disagree. A dialogue doesn't have to convince one of the players in order to have merit.True.
Nonetheless, THIS dialogue has been going nowhere fast.
: : You posit that 'demand' (consumer demand) motivates the market. This, I believe, does violence to the facts. Example: there is plenty of demand for affordable HEALTH CARE in this country but because PERSONAL COMPUTERS are more profitable to make, supply chases the easier dollar---which, in turn, affects 'demand' overwhelmingly.
: Don: As far as I can tell, the supply of both is more than ample. My father received health care which he couldn't pay for. He got the care he needed, and the hospital absorbed the costs he couldn't pay.
Thanks for the anecdotes.
How about PREVENTIVE health care? Are hospitals absorbing those costs, too?
: : When I speak of competition, I do not especially refer to the superannuted notion of price competition.
: Don: In the argument that lead into this, we were discussing price specifically, so it seems to me that you are changing the subject.
You're probably right. I got off-track. We'll pick it up again, I'm sure...
: : I refer to competition of production process (which includes labor), advertising, and---especially---access to special privileges and subsidies maintained by the government.
: Don: The last part I would classify as fascism. A free market doesn't exist when the government starts playing favorites . . .
Then let us agree that MOST CAPITALISTS (such as Exxon [about to gobble up Mobil] who requires U.S. troops to protect its overseas oil wells) ARE fascists!
