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I am going to speak briefly about economics, as a consumer. I have not studied economics. This is a biased and personal viewpoint.
That said.
Whoever believes that the Free Market can successfully produce and support something like actual civilization is fucking kidding themselves. The Free Market is awfully good at helping a small number of people gather together all the resources and then dance around on top going "AHAHAH NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT it is not worth my time to let you have it even though it was worth my time to kill things that would've let you have it otherwise."
What's leading me to believe this? Trying to buy a single damn textbook for next week's classes.
You see, there are, broadly speaking, two ways to get textbooks for an upcoming class. I can get it through the college bookstore, which has reasonably competitive prices and is OBLIGED to get a few textbooks as requested for every official class at the university, being affiliated and such. Or I can go to one of the aggressively marketed private retailers--from the Beat The Bookstore (really, company-namer? really?) storefront to Amazon itself--and try to find the same textbook for a better price there.
God, those private retailers. They are so VERY EXCITED about how awesome they are. They hire people to stand on corners and hand out fliers. They make dramatic claims. They give out free swag. They want everyone to know that by god they have your books and they have them cheaper than that stupid old fuddy-duddy of the university bookstore.
Which is true! If you're in a class that has hundreds of people using the same textbook. Or at least...dozens. You know. Enough to make it worth their while.
A third-year ancient Greek class likely to have about eight students total? Nope. They'll special order the book if you really want, but it'll take about two weeks to arrive, and might cost a dollar less than at the official bookstore. One of them offered to special-order the book for me, at four dollars above retail price.
And why shouldn't they? Free Market says that the buying power of eight people who desperately need a single item by a set date have got virtually no pull. It's worth courting six hundred students taking Intro To Biology. It's not worth doing a damn thing for eight Greek students. It makes perfect business sense for them to ignore that tiny, insignificant market that has no bearing on the big groups they'd like to serve.
Amazon offered to ship me the book in two days. Of course, it's four dollars more expensive there than at the university bookstore. I think I can just wait for the university's damn order to arrive on the shelves.
That said.
Whoever believes that the Free Market can successfully produce and support something like actual civilization is fucking kidding themselves. The Free Market is awfully good at helping a small number of people gather together all the resources and then dance around on top going "AHAHAH NO YOU CAN'T HAVE THAT it is not worth my time to let you have it even though it was worth my time to kill things that would've let you have it otherwise."
What's leading me to believe this? Trying to buy a single damn textbook for next week's classes.
You see, there are, broadly speaking, two ways to get textbooks for an upcoming class. I can get it through the college bookstore, which has reasonably competitive prices and is OBLIGED to get a few textbooks as requested for every official class at the university, being affiliated and such. Or I can go to one of the aggressively marketed private retailers--from the Beat The Bookstore (really, company-namer? really?) storefront to Amazon itself--and try to find the same textbook for a better price there.
God, those private retailers. They are so VERY EXCITED about how awesome they are. They hire people to stand on corners and hand out fliers. They make dramatic claims. They give out free swag. They want everyone to know that by god they have your books and they have them cheaper than that stupid old fuddy-duddy of the university bookstore.
Which is true! If you're in a class that has hundreds of people using the same textbook. Or at least...dozens. You know. Enough to make it worth their while.
A third-year ancient Greek class likely to have about eight students total? Nope. They'll special order the book if you really want, but it'll take about two weeks to arrive, and might cost a dollar less than at the official bookstore. One of them offered to special-order the book for me, at four dollars above retail price.
And why shouldn't they? Free Market says that the buying power of eight people who desperately need a single item by a set date have got virtually no pull. It's worth courting six hundred students taking Intro To Biology. It's not worth doing a damn thing for eight Greek students. It makes perfect business sense for them to ignore that tiny, insignificant market that has no bearing on the big groups they'd like to serve.
Amazon offered to ship me the book in two days. Of course, it's four dollars more expensive there than at the university bookstore. I think I can just wait for the university's damn order to arrive on the shelves.