Posted tagged ‘Subjective Value’

Must Reads For The Week 4/23/16

April 23, 2016

EARTH DAY THOUGHTS

18 Spectacularly Wrong Predictions Made Around The Time Of The First Earth Day In 1970, Expect More This Year, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog.  How about this prediction; “Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” The rest are also amusing.

On Earth Day, We Can Celebrate Being The Only Country To Significantly Reduce CO2 Emissions -Thanks To Fracking, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Natural gas from fracking is being used in power plants instead of coal. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal. This is a free market solution to pollution.

On Earth Day, Let’s Celebrate Fossil Fuels, at austrianaddict.com.

THE REST OF THE ARTICLES

Bernie Sanders Meets Pope Francis, at economicpolicyjournal,com. Bernie took some time off the campaign trail to travel to Italy and meet the Pope. These two Marxist central planners have a lot in common. If they could have had their meeting coincide with the Obama Castro meeting, they could have had one heck of a foursome.

More Than 3 Dozen Cuban Migrants Caught At Sea, at nbcmiami.com. The Coast Guard caught and turned back  39 Cuban defectors (lets say what they really are) in a boat on their way to the US. These defectors think there is the possibility of normal diplomatic relations between our countries, since Obama’s recent visit, which could mean  their status of automatic residency if they get to US soil might be a thing of the past. This has incentivized more Cubans to take the risk of crossing the ocean to get here.  I guess our government has to keep anyone who despises government central planning from entering the country. These people might be able to enlighten US citizens about what lies ahead as we travel down the current central planning road aka. the road to serfdom.

The Terrorist iPhone Snow Job, by Adam Dick, at targetliberth.com. This is another example of why we should be pushing back against government at every turn. Once they get their foot in the door, you’re freedom disappears.

Obama To Butt In To Britain’s Business, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Great Britain will decide in a couple of months if it will stay in The European Union. Obama is trying to persuade them to stay in the EU. Critics of Obama say Americans would never agree to an EU type of arrangement. What they don’t understand is that Obama would just make an executive order and bypass the American people.

Horror At A Maryland Barber Shop, by Thomas J. Dilorenzo, at targetliberty.com. I think this article shows the subjectivity of value. Different people place different levels of value on the same or different thing.

Emails Reveals AG’s Colluding With Al Gore And Greens To Investigate Climate Skeptics, at eelegal.org. This is what happens when scientific battles are fought in the political arena. Politics trumps facts.

The 50 Year Disaster Of Government Trains, Buses, And Street Cars, by Daniel Beir, at fee.org. This is a great article. Here is an excerpt from the article: “Ronald Reagan quipped that “government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. and if it stops moving, subsidize it.There in a nutshell you have a short history of mass transit in America.

Why Don’t Bernie And Progressives Live Communally Here And Now, by Jeff Deist, at mises.org. Bernie and his socialist supporters actually have a choice. They can build and move into their own socialist commune. No one is stopping them. They don’t have to win an election to start their socialist utopia. But you can bet the house that if Bernie was the President he wouldn’t allow us to opt out of social security, medicare, Obamacare etc.

Here is an excerpt from the article:  “So while pro-Bernie progressives are free to create their own communities in a libertarian world, libertarians are compelled by force to participate in Bernie’s world. That is the fundamental difference between liberty and socialism, between voluntarism and collectivism, between statism and private property. Nothing prevents progressives from living as they wish now, except the very things they viciously oppose: decentralization, secession, and local control.  Progressives hate hearing that taxation is theft, that government is force, and that every rule and regulation implies violence for noncompliance. It offends them on a visceral level, because their entire worldview hangs on the myth of social contract. But their currency is violence, and real contracts — in the form of voluntary, private communities — are not allowed.”

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Must Reads For The Week 3/14/15

March 13, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

 The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Obama Wants New Regulations That Will Control And Limit How You Can You Invest Your IRA and 401(k) Money, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Does adding more rules and red tape help you, or is it just a way to increase  the power of Government?

We Take Your Class, at wetakeyourclass.com. If you decide that the cost of spending your time taking your online class of doing home work is greater than what you could be doing with your time, go to We Take Your Class. I would have gotten better grades if I would have gone to school in today’s tech world.

Next Mega-Bailout: White House Studying “New Bankruptcy Options” For Student-Loan Borrowers, at zerohedge.com. The Government turns them into student loan debt serfs and then comes to the rescue by forgiving the debt. Just another way of getting the next generation of individuals thinking that everything comes from benevolent Government. The tax payer will be on the hook for this debt.

Planet Fitness Bans Member Who Complained About Transgendered Woman In Locker Room, at wftv.com. If you have an xx sex chromosome you’re a female, and if you have an xy sex chromosome you’re a male. How you feel about your gender doesn’t change your sex.

Cultural Marxism: The Future Of Girlification, by John Derbyshire, at takimag.com. The difference between the sexes will always exist. It can’t be wished away by Cultural Marxists who are trying to create a fake world that can’t exist in reality.

ATF Shelves Controversial Bullet Ban Proposial, at foxnews.com. The people have pushed back and temporarily stopped this ban. The administration will attempt this again, stay alert.

How Much Money Do You Need To Buy A Home In Your City, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Here is the salary you need to make to afford the principle, interest, taxes, and insurance on a median priced home in certain cities across the US. Look at California, especially San Francisco.

California Dreaming Of Lower Gas Prices, by Gregg Laskoski, at usnews.com. Gas Prices In California are more than a dollar per gallon higher than the rest of the country. Why? State imposed regulations and taxes have helped boost the price. With the price of housing and gas, just to name a few, who can afford to live in California?

Stingray’ Lets Police Spy On Your Cell Phone, by Sam Alder Bell, at usnews.com. Another Government violation of the fourth amendment. But as Joseph Sobran stated so well, “The constitution is no threat to our current form of Government“.

How To Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is His Age, at economicpolicyjournal.com. There aren’t many Mabels, Gertrudes, Elmers or Clarences alive today. It’s interesting to see how the popularity of certain names has changed over the years.

Why Low Oil Prices Will Not Harm Sales Of Electric Cars, at theeconomist.com. Owners of electric cars use them as a badge of honor to show they are greener than you. Since value is subjective, and most people don’t value being green higher than the price of an electric car, electric car sales aren’t going up. The price of the car has to decrease much lower before most people would consider buying one. The lower price of oil doesn’t compare to the high cost of the electric car when it comes to purchasing one.

Economic Delusions, Political Demagoguery, and Political Deceptions, by Richard Ebeling, at epictimes.com. This is our heavy lifting for the week. Just get started and don’t stop until you finish the article, you will be glad you did.

I CAN’T HELP IT. IT’S TOO MUCH FUN.

 

 

Correcting Ebenezer Scrooge’s Economics, by Ryan McMaken

December 24, 2014

Humorous illustration cartoon of Ebenezer Scrooge with one green ornament - stock photo

Ryan McMaken’s article titled, Correcting Scrooge’s Economics (read here), takes a look at Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Christmas Carol, through the lens of Austrian Economics.

Here are some excerpts from the article.

“As Charles Dickens himself admits, Ebenezer Scrooge is a thoroughly peaceful man, guilty of no true crime, who has robbed no one. Therefore, we must conclude that his wealth is a sign of his ability to please at least some people, and as Michael Levin notes: “Dickens doesn’t mention Scrooge’s satisfied customers, but there must have been plenty of them for Scrooge to have gotten so rich.

Value is Subjective

“As Carl Menger demonstrated long ago, value is subjective and different persons value goods differently depending on the person’s goals in life. Does the person want to raise a family? Perhaps he wishes to be an independent scholar who devotes all his time to reading and research. Perhaps he wishes to be a hermit who prays most of the day….. A like or dislike of Christmas, for example, cannot be calculated this way.”

“Scrooge, who is apparently not a Christmas enthusiast, greatly values money, and likes to have plenty of it handy… In Human Action, Ludwig von Mises explained that human action stems from a desire to “remove unease” about one’s present situation. With Scrooge we see (if his fiancée is to be believed) that the thought of being destitute is a source of constant unease for him. Thus, he desires to build as much wealth as possible in the hope of being beyond the possibility of poverty.”

“As Scrooge’s primary goals is poverty avoidance, this colors how he views all economic action. His peers tend to not recognize this in him, either dismissing his as simply “odious,” as Mrs. Cratchit does, or as unhappy.”

“…. just as Scrooge’s colleagues and family members do not appreciate his ranking of values — Scrooge does not seem to appreciate that others might value money for different reasons.”

 Poor Scrooge

“Ebenezer Scrooge asks very little of his fellow human beings. He only asks that they keep up their ends of the bargains in the business agreements they make. It was just his misfortune, then, that he is surrounded by a bevy of control freaks who are hell bent on making sure Scrooge enjoys Christmas in just the way they want him to.”

“Scrooge returns the favor by maintaining a ferociously low opinion of most others around him, concluding quite often that others are simply fools for choosing to enjoy the company of friends and family when there’s money to be made.”

Related ArticleHoliday Shopping? Consider The Economically Efficient Gift Of All: Cash, And Avoid The Deadweight Loss Of Christmas, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog.

 

Tiger Drops Out Of Masters + Ticket Prices Fall = Value Is Subjective.

April 7, 2014

File:Tiger Woods Masters 2006.jpg

VALUE IS SUBJECTIVE

This article titled, Masters’ Ticket Prices Drop In Wake Of Tiger”s Absence, by Dan Wetzel, at yahoo.com, shows that value is not objective it is subjective. Value exists in the mind of each individual, it does not exist in an object. I could produce the best mouse trap ever invented for a price of x, but if no one is willing to pay x,  it has no value to anyone other than me. If you offered a sports fan  free tickets to either Saturdays third round at the Masters, or Saturdays Final Four games, he would make the decision based on which event he valued more, not on the monetary value of the tickets.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

What does the drop in the price of the tickets mean? It doesn’t mean that people don’t value the Masters tournament, it just means that some people value it less when Tiger is not playing. After a bad back forced Tiger to withdraw from a tournament a month ago, demand for Masters tickets started to slow as people began to speculate that he wouldn’t play in this years Masters. Demand really dropped off when he officially withdrew from the Masters. This drop in demand revealed itself as the price for tickets began falling. The law of supply and demand is always in play, and in this case it says; if demand is low and the supply is fixed, the price will fall, and conversely if demand is high and the supply is fixed, the price will rise.

CONSUMER SETS WAGES

When you hear people say “they wouldn’t pay a particular athlete a particular amount of  money”, or “this athlete isn’t worth that much”, they obviously don’t understand subjective value, or supply and demand. The reason Tiger gets paid more than any golfer is because the value he creates is in high demand. There is a high number of people who value what he produces. Put simply, when there is a fixed supply of Tiger Woods, and a high demand for him, his price rises. If there weren’t enough consumers to voluntarily pay for the value they subjectively think Tiger produces for them, he wouldn’t get paid these “outrageous” sums of money. The consumer ultimately sets all prices in the process of production, and this includes the wages or salaries of all workers. So if you think certain professions don’t get payed enough, blame the greedy consumer, and if you think other professions get paid too much, blame the generous consumer.

Related Article – In a previous post, Ticket Scalping; The True Free Market In Action, we talked about voluntary exchanges from the stand point that each person involved in the exchange values what they receive more than what they give up, or no exchange would take place. Value is increased in voluntary exchanges.

Related ArticleSpontaneous Order = Free Market Economy, by austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleSpontaneous Order Utilizes More Knowledge Than Central Planning Could Ever Hope To Utilize, by austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleSpontaneous Order More Complex Than Top Down Planning, by austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleSpontaneous Order Demonstrated By Traffic With No Signals, by austrianaddict.com.

 

It’s Basketball Tourney Time, Lets Talk Ticket Scalping.

March 20, 2014

Once again it’s time for March Madness. We can learn a lot about how the free market works by walking around arena’s that are hosting games.  Ticket scalpers and ticket buyers are involved in voluntary exchanges which are the heart of a free market. I wrote this post below about ticket scalping last year and I’m going to post it again.

TICKET SCALPING: THE TRUE FREE MARKET IN ACTION

I’m going to the Ohio High School Basketball Tournament this weekend not and not just to watch the games. I like to observe the economic principles at play in the free market for tickets, (aka scalping) that takes place outside of the arena, it is a real education. This video explains whats going on.

Most of the people who participate in the free market of ticket scalping, have no understanding of the economic principles they are demonstrating by their actions. Supply and demand, subjective value, and the allocation of scarce resources through the price system, are just a few of the principles being demonstrated. Order is created out of seeming chaos by buyers and sellers voluntarily making decisions on the price that ultimately leads to an exchange. The scalper is a broker who ultimately brings the buyer and the seller together, in the same way a realtor brings the buyer and seller of a house together. I’ve seen scalpers make a good profit selling tickets when LeBron James was playing in the state tournament because demand was high and the supply of good seats was low. I’ve also been at a final four at the Louisiana Super Dome where scalpers were selling tickets for a dollar, minutes before the game, trying to get what they could before the tickets would became worthless just minutes after the game started. The one thing I’ve noticed in both situations, the buyer and the seller never make the exchange of a ticket, for money, unless both parties agree on the price.  If the same two individuals came together and tried to make the exchange earlier or later than when the exchange actually took place, the subjective valuations of each party would have been different, and an exchange would not have taken place, at that price. If you get a chance to go to an NCAA tournament game, walk around the arena for a while and watch basic economic principles being demonstrated in the secondary ticket market.

Human Action Reveals The Reality About Political Decisions.

May 1, 2013
English: Cover of the scholar's edition of Hum...

Human Action by Ludwig von Mises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HUMAN ACTION, IN A CHANGING WORLD.

The book  Human Action (link here), by Ludwig von Mises is full of great insights into how the world works. These insights are very helpful in understanding what happens in the world of Government and politics. The books starting point for analysis is this: man acts because of the mere fact of his existence. Human action is purposeful behavior. Action is not verbal preference, it is an individual choosing, and acting, to reach a particular end. Man acts to substitute what he thinks will be a more satisfactory state of affairs for a less satisfactory state. He wouldn’t want to change his existing state of affairs, if he didn’t think his action would bring about a better state. His actions will reveal the correctness of his thinking. Action is a tangible thing and cannot be confused with wishes or hopes. Both the material and the ideal are valued differently by each individual, and what each individual values changes in time and place. What a man values the highest drives his actions. He uses available means to achieve his most highly valued ends, and his action toward his most valued end, takes place in a world of imperfection and constant change. So to summarize: (more…)

Ticket Scalping, The True Free Market In Action.

March 21, 2013

I’m going to the Ohio High School Basketball Tournament this weekend not and not just to watch the games. I like to observe the economic principles at play in the free market for tickets,(aka scalping) that takes place outside of the arena, it is a real education. This video explains whats going on.

Most of the people who participate in the free market of ticket scalping, have no understanding of the economic principles they are demonstrating by their actions. Supply and demand, subjective value, (more…)