tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679605725734094223.post6908240824926858214..comments2023-09-01T09:19:54.827-04:00Comments on Calvin Economics: Consumer Complicity and CompetitionSteven McMullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07750329696926917789noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679605725734094223.post-79752461750979652782012-06-11T21:47:16.576-04:002012-06-11T21:47:16.576-04:00I disagree with the MIT-trained professor. In tod...I disagree with the MIT-trained professor. In today's information-rich society, consumers have the access and ability to make informed purchases, if they so desire. Free-range chicken (Miller's?) has a market precisely because consumers have decided that there be one. It is the invisible hand, which has been proven to be more efficient and beneficial to society than the heavy hand of a vanguard of economists, for example. As another example, college students can visit www.ratemyprofessor.com before picking an economics professor.Mservetusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1679605725734094223.post-48973936188531437862012-02-06T10:55:42.787-05:002012-02-06T10:55:42.787-05:00I think the basic difference between me and Steve ...I think the basic difference between me and Steve on this issue is that I think that competition is a weaker force than he thinks it is. Miller's Amish chicken is more expensive than other brands, but it survives in the marketplace because of superior quality as well as ethical advantages. But as a consumer I have no direct role in deciding how chicken is raised, however much I might wish industry practices to be different. Responsibility lies with the managers, and it's about time we focussed on their ethics and their role, rather than excusing them by talking about competition.<br /><br />There are also issues with information. Al seems to think that information about production methods is easy to obtain and process. I think we're way too dependent on the media's taste for the salacious to have very much dependable information about more than a few isolated industries. And I have trouble enough trying to manage my retirement accounts without collecting exhaustive info. about every possible alternative investment.<br /><br />I don't want to seem like I don't take this seriously, but there's a wonderful send-up of this idea on the first episode of "Portlandia":<br /><br />http://www.hulu.com/watch/208808/portlandia-ordering-the-chicken-part-1#s-p6-sr-i0John Tiemstrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09506094023737873580noreply@blogger.com