Quote from: pipeliner1978 on July 24, 2008, 07:16:59 AM
WORD!!!!

Word. Word. Word. Word. Word.

Quote from: littleyellowduc (LYD) on July 24, 2008, 03:30:48 AM
Dam, thought we were friends!

Yep, you're stuck with me

Quote from: Duc L'Smart on July 24, 2008, 10:03:15 AM
Yep, you're stuck with me

Well I guess thats better than being stuck with a non meat eater!! 

Quote from: littleyellowduc (LYD) on July 24, 2008, 12:21:33 PM
Well I guess thats better than being stuck with a non meat eater!! 

Meat sticks to your ribs. 

so i've been thinking a lot lately about economic theories, and what the consequences are of those theories are.  for example, one of the natural consequences of capitalism is that business owners are forced to either innovate or reduce production costs in order to remain competitive.  It's easier to reduce costs than it is innovate, so operational efficiencies are always sought after.  many of those result in the reduction of the larger operational costs, which are people.  that forces retraining into new industries in a lot of cases, but also essentially means that capitalism's natural byproduct is a relatively constant unemployment factor.  This is usually mitigated outside of the economic theory by political efforts, such as welfare, or WPA style efforts.  Another byproduct of capitalism is lessened state control of economic forces.  you see in developing nations trying to mimic capitalism that they fail when they try to maintain control of their own central banks, currency valuations, interest rates, etc.. etc..  capitalism encourages free markets and free trade ( although you can certainly have those in other economic systems, including communism, socialism, etc.. ) 

communism and socialism sought to eradicate this byproduct by assuming greater control of economic forces, but were forced to own and maintain carefully crafted and difficult to implement economic plans ( the various soviet-era and chinese style "5 year plans" and the like ).  this close control of economic forces was difficult to maintain, and discourage free markets and free trade, because they reduced the ability of the central economic managers to control economic forces.  also, industrialization required starting capital to get going, which was difficult to obtain in situations where foreign investment was not rewarded.  subsistence farmers were entrenched, and not motivated to adopt agricultural improvements when their livelihood ( rather their lives ) were at risk.  in europe, industrialization was accomplished by wholesale evictions of peasants from their land and subsistence farming, forcing them to migrate to cities and take industrial jobs.  quite the liberation from the feudal system, and an unpleasant introduction to capitalism.

I suppose it is sort of ok that we mitigate the impact of capitalism with social welfare programs, but since we as a society are sort of loathe to provide that safety valve, are there other economic theories or portions of theories that can be brought to bear on the unpleasant consequences of our economic system?

also, the drive to reduce costs and expand markets has created many more pockets of so-called third-world nations anxious to adopt capitalist tenets and reap the benefit, however, the transition to capitalism from feudal-style economies is tricky, and requires pressures that modern first world economies are quick to condemn, even as we reap the benefits of reduced labor costs from those markets and expand our own market for products into those new markets.  Is there a newer or even a transitional ( as Marx viewed socialism as a transition to pure communism ) economic model that can be used to foster development of these emerging economies/markets in such a way that can smooth that road and pave the way for some of the gentler benefits of the global marketplace ( like not wanting to drop bombs on the place that builds all your microwave ovens )?

just thinkin'....

what thread is this one?

  Dude, you need a drink          

  On second thought, even better

GO HOME - PULL OFF TOWEL 

Quote from: The Svoloch on July 24, 2008, 02:36:56 PM
so i've been thinking a lot lately about economic theories, and what the consequences are of those theories are.  for example, one of the natural consequences of capitalism is that business owners are forced to either innovate or reduce production costs in order to remain competitive.  It's easier to reduce costs than it is innovate, so operational efficiencies are always sought after.  many of those result in the reduction of the larger operational costs, which are people.  that forces retraining into new industries in a lot of cases, but also essentially means that capitalism's natural byproduct is a relatively constant unemployment factor.  This is usually mitigated outside of the economic theory by political efforts, such as welfare, or WPA style efforts.  Another byproduct of capitalism is lessened state control of economic forces.  you see in developing nations trying to mimic capitalism that they fail when they try to maintain control of their own central banks, currency valuations, interest rates, etc.. etc..  capitalism encourages free markets and free trade ( although you can certainly have those in other economic systems, including communism, socialism, etc.. ) 

communism and socialism sought to eradicate this byproduct by assuming greater control of economic forces, but were forced to own and maintain carefully crafted and difficult to implement economic plans ( the various soviet-era and chinese style "5 year plans" and the like ).  this close control of economic forces was difficult to maintain, and discourage free markets and free trade, because they reduced the ability of the central economic managers to control economic forces.  also, industrialization required starting capital to get going, which was difficult to obtain in situations where foreign investment was not rewarded.  subsistence farmers were entrenched, and not motivated to adopt agricultural improvements when their livelihood ( rather their lives ) were at risk.  in europe, industrialization was accomplished by wholesale evictions of peasants from their land and subsistence farming, forcing them to migrate to cities and take industrial jobs.  quite the liberation from the feudal system, and an unpleasant introduction to capitalism.

I suppose it is sort of ok that we mitigate the impact of capitalism with social welfare programs, but since we as a society are sort of loathe to provide that safety valve, are there other economic theories or portions of theories that can be brought to bear on the unpleasant consequences of our economic system?

also, the drive to reduce costs and expand markets has created many more pockets of so-called third-world nations anxious to adopt capitalist tenets and reap the benefit, however, the transition to capitalism from feudal-style economies is tricky, and requires pressures that modern first world economies are quick to condemn, even as we reap the benefits of reduced labor costs from those markets and expand our own market for products into those new markets.  Is there a newer or even a transitional ( as Marx viewed socialism as a transition to pure communism ) economic model that can be used to foster development of these emerging economies/markets in such a way that can smooth that road and pave the way for some of the gentler benefits of the global marketplace ( like not wanting to drop bombs on the place that builds all your microwave ovens )?

just thinkin'....

what thread is this one?

Economic theories at 20 paces?

High noon - be there, sucka.

This was part of his thesis for his graduate work at the Fastwin School of Longwinded Redundancy.

Quote from: The Svoloch on July 24, 2008, 02:36:56 PM
".... blah, blah, blah"

what thread is this one?

got that last part right.

Its the 5 paragraph thread 

Todays forcast 55 / 83 DRY!!!! 

I Sign the lease today.

Mindy will be here 8/3!!     

New tires on the bike

  I got a Full Member 

[moto] Now I need a Ducati  [moto]

Work tomorrow ! Time for bed  !!

Quote from: Cyclone on July 25, 2008, 08:26:26 PM
I got a Full Member 

Was it hard?