[ShepherdsDog]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2 ... ureau.html

I'm amazed that a group of hormonal women haven't pooled their money for a hitman.

[Lemmy]

Price fixing is much more widespread than most people can conceive. It's capitalism's dirty little secret.

[raydan]

Monopolies are easier to fight.

I'd like to know how they found out about it.

[commanderkai]

Just about everything in this country is priced higher than it should be.

[BartSimpson]

Lemmy Lemmy:

Price fixing is much more widespread than most people can conceive. It's capitalism's dirty little secret.

Uh-huh. And remind me of where I can find a privately owned liquor store in BC?

[Lemmy]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Lemmy Lemmy:

Price fixing is much more widespread than most people can conceive. It's capitalism's dirty little secret.

Uh-huh. And remind me of where I can find a privately owned liquor store in BC?

Not sure what your point is. We're not talking about public monopolies, we're talking about collusion and price fixing in the private sector.

[raydan]

I guess his point is that public monopolies can price fix all they want... legally.


I know, not the definition of price fixing... humour me.

[Lemmy]

That's true of private monopolies as well. And when firms in competitive markets do it, it's to achieve monopoly power. Which is why anti-trust and regulation are essential components of a competitive marketplace.

[raydan]

What Bart example doesn't take into consideration is that the profit made by the public monopolies stays public... it's just another tax.

[Lemmy]

Not sure I agree with that. A tax doesn't provide the consumer with anything tangible. Buying something from a government monopoly does.

I think Bart just had a knee-jerk reaction to the notion that anything about capitalism be criticized. It's not, however, anti-something to identify and understand its weaknesses. To maximize the benefits of capitalism, we need to understand instances where it fails and tweak it to work better for us. If the marketplace were totally free, that would mean there would be no laws of any kind. Hell, even Milton Friedman recognized the necessity of some forms of regulation.

[raydan]

I mean the extra we pay above and beyond the actual market value of the product is a tax... if we accept as fact that prices would be lower in a free market environment.

I have no problem with public monopolies, as long as they're run efficiently.

[BartSimpson]

raydan raydan:

I guess his point is that public monopolies can price fix all they want... legally.

Exactly.

My point about the government going after private monopolies is that they're not doing it for altruistic reasons, nope, they just hate the idea that anyone else can do what they do all the time.

[Lemmy]

And I already know we agree that the government shouldn't be a player in most of the markets that they operate in. Mostly, governments' role should be limited to regulatory oversight and law enforcement.

[raydan]

I don't know why they got into the booze trade when they didn't for cigarettes. Give it back to the private sector, you can still tax it to hell like cigarettes.

[herbie]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Lemmy Lemmy:

Price fixing is much more widespread than most people can conceive. It's capitalism's dirty little secret.

Uh-huh. And remind me of where I can find a privately owned liquor store in BC?

Anywhere. 3 out of the 4 in my little town. Look for a sign, the gov't ones don't have any.
Enjoy the smaller selection, revel at the lower paid employees and enjoy the higher prices because you're paying for convenience, longer hours of operation and usually higher rent for their location.
The free market has to work within the structure it's given.
EX: It's summer so one store will have hot dogs on sale, another hot dog buns, another has pop on sale, another chips. Is it collusion to know NONE have all those items on sale at the same time? Or at best you'll save a dime by spending a dollar on gas?