Economics

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  • Would a socialist economy work for a country as large as America, or does America need to be more of a hybrid?
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    There is no one set conception of a "socialist economy." The idea ranges from a full-on control economy wherein the government owns all means of production to a relatively free market of local cooperatives. Your question is moot because you haven't defined your terms.

    To whit, we already have a "mixed system." It's just that it's a broken mixed system which primarily benefits the wealthy through corporate welfare, inconsistent regulation, and a lack of reasonable consequences for destructive business practices.
  • What would be the most effective way to reduce income inequality?
  • kill living beings
    what would be the most effective way to end war

    i mean

    whattaquestion
  • You might as well be asking what the meaning of life is.
  • edited 2016-09-04 04:10:57
    “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    ^^^ That's a really broad question with no single answer. Like, there really is no one magic bullet to kill income inequality. It's about vast structural reform and community work and all sorts of changes in between.

    If I may, I'd like to reverse some of your questions: What do you mean when you talk about a socialist economy? To what degree do you consider it practical on a large scale? What immediate reforms would you seek to move towards greater income equality?
  • edited 2016-09-04 04:45:45
    I tried to be profound and failed DX

    Socialism is a worker owned and controlled economy, so what would need to be socialized? Transportation, healthcare, etc?
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    "Owning the means of production" means somewhat different things to different people. What do *you* think that looks like?
  • Like the workers of Walmart controlling Walmart instead of the Walton family or the CEOs.
  • kill living beings
    well, that's just a co-op. those exist fine as-is. i get chicken feed at one.
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    Undramatic it is, but it is a practical small-to-mid-scale application of socialist principles. There was actually a very successful programme under the Labour Party before Thatcher's ascent where the government bought out failing businesses and restructured them as cooperatives, including the motorcycle company Norton-Villiers-Triumph. Which I guess is a bit more interventionist than co-ops simply happening like fairy rings around tree stumps, but they weren't actually nationalised per se. But maybe that makes it even more of a dirty commie plot? *shrug*
  • What if Google and Disney were nationalized and put under worker control? Or is that too much?
  • You're not asking questions that like, mean anything.

    I mean we could think about what would happen, but it won't happen because those are two of the most powerful companies in the world and if you think Disney isn't more powerful than the government you're kidding yourself. Ditto Google.
  • kill living beings
    depends on what you mean by "more powerful", but yes, the premise is implausible on its own
  • I couldn't see Google still being what it is if it were a co-op.

    Wait, are there any major tech companies that are co-ops?

    Regardless, Google's thing seems to basically be
    1. control tons of internet traffic thanks to existing market share
    2. dominate internet advertising
    3. innovate random shit and potentially introduce disruptive tech to advance the digital age or whatever

    On the other hand, co-op mentality seems to be very much about long-term sustainability (from a socioeconomic perspective, even if not an environmental one), which really doesn't seem to be a theme I'd associate with the way Google works.  Or the tech world in general, tbh.
  • I'm pretty sure that by almost any metric, Disney is less powerful than the government of the united states
  • I'm pretty sure that by almost any metric, Disney is less powerful than the government of the united states

    except when it comes to copyright law, but in that case, it's not a fair comparison because it's more like they actually help write the laws
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”
    What would the point of nationalising an entertainment company even be, aside from propaganda?
  • What would the point of nationalising an entertainment company even be, aside from propaganda?

    Well, one possible good intention could be to subsidize artistic creativity by guaranteeing income and allowing people to pursue creative ideas more freely, and guaranteeing income by taxation rather than copyright enforcement.
  • “I'm surprised. Those clothes… but, aren't you…?”

    What would the point of nationalising an entertainment company even be, aside from propaganda?

    Well, one possible good intention could be to subsidize artistic creativity by guaranteeing income and allowing people to pursue creative ideas more freely, and guaranteeing income by taxation rather than copyright enforcement.
    While I applaud publicly funded art, the potential for blowback from this arrangement is pretty intense. Even the grant system is controversial, let alone having a government institution paying for, I dunno, Fritz the Cat. Not that I would be the one complaining were that to happen. But even so, it likely wouldn't, because you'd have a whole lot of bureaucracy from on high keeping things from getting too "out of hand." Look at what the BBC has done over the years. Now, apply that to the structure of a corporation which has its fingers in as many industries as Disney does. It would be an absolute mess.
  • kill living beings
    government grants are basically stupid in science too. i can only imagine how bad it is when you don't have STEM's weird marketing thing. i don't know what a better system would be.
  • Mainly to stop Disney's hard on for copyright. :p
  • tbf i wasn't saying that that was the ideal arrangement

    just saying that it's one possible good intention
  • Serocco3 said:

    Mainly to stop Disney's hard on for copyright. :p

    these are not really related problems

    I mean they're in the same field but, not much more than that.
  • The economics of intellectual property is certainly an interesting topic, though one that is not the economics people usually think of when they just say "economics". They usually are thinking of country-level macroeconomics and how that relates to their own financial situation.
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