Do what thy manhood bids thee do,
from none but self expect applause;
He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws.
Sir Richard Francis Burton
Earlier One-Off Post: Sunday Talk Soup and the Economic Idiocy of NYC Mayor De Blasio
Tweet of the Day
@Pontifex confuses capitalism with 100 yrs of Argentinian policy that transformed its leading economy to mediocrity.http://t.co/mS7aNkxSWk
— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) September 22, 2015
Image of the Day |
| via Independent Institute |
A Government Offer You Can Refuse
This Is Why There Are No Jobs in AmericaLet the Parties Be Parties
By Porter Stansberry
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
I'd like to make you a business offer.
Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can't turn me down, as you'll come to understand in a moment…
Here's the deal. You're going to start a business or expand the one you've got now. It doesn't really matter what you do or what you're going to do. I'll partner with you no matter what business you're in – as long as it's legal.
But I can't give you any capital – you have to come up with that on your own. I won't give you any labor – that's definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you're allowed to operate your business. That's my role in the affair: to tell you what to do.
Now in return for my rules, I'm going to take roughly half of whatever you make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn't it? I think so. Of course, that's half of your profits.
You're also going to have to pay me about 12% of whatever you decide to pay your employees because you've got to cover my expenses for promulgating all of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you're my partner. It's only "fair."
Now… after you've put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this business, and after you've worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my 50% or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you'd like to cash out – to finally live the good life.
Whether or not this is "fair" – some people never can afford to retire – is a different argument. As your partner, I'm happy for you to sell whenever you'd like… because our agreement says, if you sell, you have to pay me an additional 20% of whatever the capitalized value of the business is at that time.
I know… I know… you put up all the original capital. You took all the risks. You put in all of the labor. That's all true. But I've done my part, too. I've collected 50% of the profits each year. And I've always come up with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another, final 20% slice of the business.
Oh… and one more thing…
Even after you've sold the business and paid all of my fees… I'd recommend buying lots of life insurance. You see, even after you've been retired for years, when you die, you'll have to pay me 50% of whatever your estate is worth.
After all, I've got lots of partners and not all of them are as successful as you and your family. We don't think it's "fair" for your kids to have such a big advantage. But if you buy enough life insurance, you can finance this expense for your children.
All in all, if you're a very successful entrepreneur… if you're one of the rare, lucky, and hard-working people who can create a new company, employ lots of people, and satisfy the public… you'll end up paying me more than 75% of your income over your life. Thanks so much.
I'm sure you'll think my offer is reasonable and happily partner with me… but it doesn't really matter how you feel about it because if you ever try to stiff me – or cheat me on any of my fees or rules – I'll break down your door in the middle of the night, threaten you and your family with heavy, automatic weapons, and throw you in jail.
That's how civil society is supposed to work, right? This is "Amerika," isn't it?
That's the offer Amerika gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in Washington wonder why there are no new jobs…
Facebook Corner
(continuation of a George Will thread from an earlier post)
http://achievingcoherence.com/2013/03/12/capitalism-vs-corporatism/
Once again, a fascist who doesn't understand what she's reading. Corporatism is an artifact of large government meddling in the economy. That's truer of some industries in the US (e.g., banking) vs. others (e.g., high tech).
The advances made by what passes for capitalism are real, and have been extensive, but they come at a price. How much those advances cost us dependes on whether we and our economics are prepared to continue to evolve and outrun those costs, or if we get stranded here to reap the crop we have sown. I'm afraid advancement from here on now that we've exploited all the resources it has been easy to exploit, and now must do some real hard thinking and working to advance, well...We do have an amazing work ethic, but we also have a penchant for taking the easy way out...be prepared for a collision. Let see how ebullient we are about the wonders of capitalism and industry a hundred years from now when the true costs come due.
As for [troll] , this is just Malthusian nonsense, as if all commerce involves some vague type of externality. How will we light our homes without a dwindling amount of whale blubber? Then there was the peak oil hypothesis, which had to be put in check by the realized promise of fracking. There are more trees in the US today than a century ago--while food yields have multiplied. I have enough faith in the ingenuity of men to adapt instead of this retarded "the sky is falling" mentality.
(Libertarian Catholic). I bet the Venezuelans aren't laughing at this!
To the moderator: It would be funnier if he was in the toilet paper aisle...
(separate comment)
Well, if "President Trump" has his way, Mexican-produced Oreos result in empty shelves...
I don't get it...
This is the Onion, a satirical portal. Pope Francis condemns "unbridled consumerism". Whereas the empty shelves are not as bad as in Venezuela (the last story I heard was a run on tampons in Argentina), Argentina has a bad inflation problem and what happens when a populist/fascist like the current Peronist in power sees inflation? Hint: price caps. From Econ 101, what happens when official prices are less than market-clearing prices?
(Jeffrey Tucker). More, more, more Syrians please. This country without refugees loses its moral bearings. http://fee.org/…/we-accept-refugees-to-save-their-lives-no…
This country stoked the Syrian civil war, with many military supplies captures by ISIS; Tucker is right: we have a moral responsibility to step up. Obama's 10,000 cap is embarrassingly low.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via IPI |
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| Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall |
Lionel Richie, "Ballerina Girl"
