The judicial system deserves more blame the RIAA for this. The judicial system is setup, guided and managed purely to serve the interests of the lawyers.
And they do everything to make it complicated, slow and expensive. They make the laws and they get paid to fight for/against it as well.
Power corrupts. Doesn't matter if the person with power has shit that doesn't stink. By nature, the stronger person will eventually abuse his power.
Good point. Would you apply this to the political parties as well?
I mean the democratic party is getting way too powerful - are Obama's Doj people going to look into that as well?
Will they also look at the collusion in the political market where only 2 firms 'dominate' and worse, the firm that has the dominant position is actively doing things to keep the other firm out?
but $500 is $150 too much for a larger version of the Kindle 2
Maybe you mean "$500 is $150 too much than what I'm willing to pay" - if it is back-ordered like the earlier models, it means that $500 is too low. What it costs amazon to build is irrelevant to the sales price (if it costs them $5000, you wouldn't pay that, will you?)
Lower tax rates can spur economic growth, but so can government spending (funded by higher tax rates)
Except that you're laundering all of that money through a notoriously inefficient, pork-laden, sinkhole that kills its efficient allocation.
"Efficient allocation" is not the problem with the GP's theory. If the GP is correct, none of us need to work! We can all sit back while the govt. just spends money (don't ask him where the govt get the money and what the consequences are).
Evey effing moron is now a Keynesian - nothing too surprising there.
Explicitly allowing military contractors to overcharge the taxpayer to deliver broken systems on no-bid contracts is the heart of True Capitalism(tm) and A-OK.
Where did you get that idea?
Oh, you're making sh1t up. Ok, let me try - socialism means killing little babies and feeding them to dogs.
you mean like the manattan project? the apollo project? Nasa?
I have a feeling he may be talking about the other stuff like 'War on drugs/terrorism/etc' - but of course, you would never have thought of that.
Economics does not have a "goal" of efficiency any more than nuclear physics has a "goal" of producing the biggest, most powerful bomb possible. It needs to be leveraged to the benefit of humanity.
And what makes you think that politicians and bureaucrats are better motivated and have all the necessary information than private individuals? If that were the case, Cuba, N. Korea, pre-92 India and the Soviet Union would be economic giants instead of basket cases.
if we don't stop the up and coming countries... If we get them off on the right foot
I didn't realize that the idea of the white man's burden was still alive and well. The US and others claiming to exempt India and China is like an impotent man claiming to be chaste.
Why do you think that the image and the 'cool-factor' has no value? Maybe that is what people pay for.
If that were not the case, why would they make cars in various colours?
I guess you missed the part where he said we need to invest in carbon capture and pointed out that even if we abandon coal (not likely but let's assume so for the sake of the argument) that the Chinese and Indians won't? Seems to me that if we can make carbon capture work we can sell it to them and get some exports going once again
You're assuming that we Indians would want the carbon capture technology. Al Gore is not a huge box office draw in India.
Yes - you nailed it.
This is the same problem with studies that "show" that high-school/college graduates make more than dropouts. There are plenty of race-discrimination "studies" with the same problem.
The reason you hear stories about newspapers failing all over the country is because of the Associated Press. In order to cut costs,
You are confusing the cause and effect - if they were doing well, why would they try to cut costs?
Newspapers are dying because there are better ways to advertise and there are better ways to get news. And just like any other industry who cannot justify their business models - RIAA, US steelmakers, etc - they are considering 'legislative remedies'.
Do you also worry about the trade deficit Oklahoma has with Texas? How about NY and IL? I'm amazed at how otherwise economically literate people misunderstand the trade deficit.
If your country's trade deficit makes you nervous, do this: Instead of saying "America's trade deficit is $X", say "America has an investment surplus of $X" - that'll make you feel better.
I'm curious, who paid for it? It cannot be the western consumers who get products for a lower cost. It may be the western workers - but only if they didn't retrain and move to other fields (typists, clerks and autoworkers didn't sit around and complain about computers or robots).
So, again, who paid for it? You seem to have a zero-sum view of the world.
1) Pay less to developers and artists To me, (1) makes most sense. Isn't that how capitalism supposed to work?
Nope. Developers and artists are selling their services - they will sell it to whoever pays more. If the game companies pay less, then they might work for some other industry.
2) Make less expensive games
That is a good idea. Another one is to make a game good enough where it'll sell a lot of copies for a lot of money.
to have one company in control of so many things we depend on
I'm amazed at the mentality of people who think that, just because they depend on/like some product, they get to take away the rights and freedoms of the producers who produce the products.
It is a kind of perverse incentive: I produce a crap product, I'm free to do whatever I want; I produce a great product that millions depend upon, now all my freedoms reg. the product are taken away. And oh, now I'm "too big to fail" so I can put my snout in the public trough whenever I want.
Slashdot Mirror
The judicial system deserves more blame the RIAA for this. The judicial system is setup, guided and managed purely to serve the interests of the lawyers.
And they do everything to make it complicated, slow and expensive. They make the laws and they get paid to fight for/against it as well.
Power corrupts. Doesn't matter if the person with power has shit that doesn't stink. By nature, the stronger person will eventually abuse his power.
Good point. Would you apply this to the political parties as well?
I mean the democratic party is getting way too powerful - are Obama's Doj people going to look into that as well?
Will they also look at the collusion in the political market where only 2 firms 'dominate' and worse, the firm that has the dominant position is actively doing things to keep the other firm out?
*giving* these people nuclear weapons.
I don't think you're "giving" them anything.
God forbid somebody says something sensible...*sigh* indeed.
Those are just as biased as Fox News.
Because they never agree with your views?
but $500 is $150 too much for a larger version of the Kindle 2
Maybe you mean "$500 is $150 too much than what I'm willing to pay" - if it is back-ordered like the earlier models, it means that $500 is too low. What it costs amazon to build is irrelevant to the sales price (if it costs them $5000, you wouldn't pay that, will you?)
That's a great idea. Similar to that, the govt should also:
The danger is, some nanny-staters will agree with some of the "ideas" above.
Lower tax rates can spur economic growth, but so can government spending (funded by higher tax rates)
Except that you're laundering all of that money through a notoriously inefficient, pork-laden, sinkhole that kills its efficient allocation.
"Efficient allocation" is not the problem with the GP's theory. If the GP is correct, none of us need to work! We can all sit back while the govt. just spends money (don't ask him where the govt get the money and what the consequences are).
Evey effing moron is now a Keynesian - nothing too surprising there.
As one Hungarian said to Ballmer: Give us our money back!
And what did the Hungarian do to earn the money? Did he invest his savings and time to start a company?
Explicitly allowing military contractors to overcharge the taxpayer to deliver broken systems on no-bid contracts is the heart of True Capitalism(tm) and A-OK.
Where did you get that idea?
Oh, you're making sh1t up. Ok, let me try - socialism means killing little babies and feeding them to dogs.
you mean like the manattan project? the apollo project? Nasa?
I have a feeling he may be talking about the other stuff like 'War on drugs/terrorism/etc' - but of course, you would never have thought of that.
Economics does not have a "goal" of efficiency any more than nuclear physics has a "goal" of producing the biggest, most powerful bomb possible. It needs to be leveraged to the benefit of humanity.
And what makes you think that politicians and bureaucrats are better motivated and have all the necessary information than private individuals? If that were the case, Cuba, N. Korea, pre-92 India and the Soviet Union would be economic giants instead of basket cases.
if we don't stop the up and coming countries ... If we get them off on the right foot
I didn't realize that the idea of the white man's burden was still alive and well. The US and others claiming to exempt India and China is like an impotent man claiming to be chaste.
Why do you think that the image and the 'cool-factor' has no value? Maybe that is what people pay for.
If that were not the case, why would they make cars in various colours?
I guess you missed the part where he said we need to invest in carbon capture and pointed out that even if we abandon coal (not likely but let's assume so for the sake of the argument) that the Chinese and Indians won't? Seems to me that if we can make carbon capture work we can sell it to them and get some exports going once again
You're assuming that we Indians would want the carbon capture technology. Al Gore is not a huge box office draw in India.
Yes - you nailed it.
This is the same problem with studies that "show" that high-school/college graduates make more than dropouts. There are plenty of race-discrimination "studies" with the same problem.
I wonder if anyone will catch on to the fact that the new carbon taxes levied are nothing more than a tax on the consumers of energy.
Or maybe they'll find a way to pass on the taxes to only those people who make more than 250,000 - a version of that already exists in India.
Actually it really has.
Depends on whether you want to pay for your own health care or would like others to pay for your health care.
The reason you hear stories about newspapers failing all over the country is because of the Associated Press. In order to cut costs,
You are confusing the cause and effect - if they were doing well, why would they try to cut costs?
Newspapers are dying because there are better ways to advertise and there are better ways to get news. And just like any other industry who cannot justify their business models - RIAA, US steelmakers, etc - they are considering 'legislative remedies'.
mechanical devices, based on physical principles
Here is the invention.
Do you also worry about the trade deficit Oklahoma has with Texas? How about NY and IL? I'm amazed at how otherwise economically literate people misunderstand the trade deficit.
If your country's trade deficit makes you nervous, do this: Instead of saying "America's trade deficit is $X", say "America has an investment surplus of $X" - that'll make you feel better.
Who do you think has been paying for it?
I'm curious, who paid for it? It cannot be the western consumers who get products for a lower cost. It may be the western workers - but only if they didn't retrain and move to other fields (typists, clerks and autoworkers didn't sit around and complain about computers or robots).
So, again, who paid for it? You seem to have a zero-sum view of the world.
What they think about their product is irrelevant! I'm sure the maker of Gigli thought it was the greatest movie ever made!
My point was that, you cannot just say, "Well, the game is not selling, so I'm paying you developers only $5/hour".
1) Pay less to developers and artists
To me, (1) makes most sense. Isn't that how capitalism supposed to work?
Nope. Developers and artists are selling their services - they will sell it to whoever pays more. If the game companies pay less, then they might work for some other industry.
2) Make less expensive games
That is a good idea. Another one is to make a game good enough where it'll sell a lot of copies for a lot of money.
to have one company in control of so many things we depend on
I'm amazed at the mentality of people who think that, just because they depend on/like some product, they get to take away the rights and freedoms of the producers who produce the products.
It is a kind of perverse incentive: I produce a crap product, I'm free to do whatever I want; I produce a great product that millions depend upon, now all my freedoms reg. the product are taken away. And oh, now I'm "too big to fail" so I can put my snout in the public trough whenever I want.