Ideal market example? No, of course not. But compared to places like Venezuela I'll take it. Which do you prefer?
I was struck by how the author of the book repeatedly pointed out how sensitive the grocery stores are to public sentiment. Working with such a small margin they have to be. The public wants gluten free, suddenly there are whole sections filled with gluten free. It shows how dependent the seller is to the needs of the buyer. In free markets the consumer is king! Too many people have concluded it's the other way around.
That's an interesting trend in socialist countries, don't you find? They're pretty great until they aren't. When they can no longer fleece or rob Peter to pay Paul (because Peter has either been tapped out by extortionist taxes, imprisoned or had his livelihood nationalized) things start to turn ugly for the masses. And to further compound the trend, the government always manages to persuade its people that it's Peter's fault!
It is what happens when the people on the wrong side of politics have the means to leave. There were definitely losers when it came to Bolivarianism.
Or when you can no longer sell your greatest national resource for even half of what you could sell it for the year before. Or when the most powerful country in the world is dedicated to making sure you fail.
Who owns the land?
The people that do that are fairly compensated.
How?
You are confusing Dutch Disease with Socialism. The collective ownership of oil resources isn't what brought Venezuela into chaos it is the fluctuating value of those resources.
I'm going to need some proof or at least some reasoning on this one.
Dan, we can reduce the scope of the discussion to just land ownership. How does land as personal property square with the libertarian principles of non-aggression? I can see how you can lay claim to items you produce as personal property, but how does society go from a state of nature to private ownership of land and natural resources?
