Hello friends and supporters,
It’s been brought to my attention that stripe is back, and will be back until around July. That will be conveniently after the semester ends.
Even though writing isn’t a job that pays the way I do it, and…that’s it, I have the flavor of OCD that makes even non-jobs feel like high-stakes endeavors. It does feel great when the task is done for the week, like I’ve taken off a heavy burden.
This week is a bold attempt of doubling up. My sister and I used to call this double-dipping back in the ancient days of high school, when one would adapt a project to suit two different classes. I have a midterm in Managerial Economics coming up within, and I fear that if I don’t devote the entire week to preparing and over-preparing for it, I…won’t do well. I might devote every waking moment to it and still do badly, anyway, but if I also apply it to my usual content output I can at least have one guaranteed benefit of my study labor.
There’s nothing in the rules to say a complete weirdo can’t reference their own work in an essay test.
The past few years have been an unpleasant series of misfires at a field of study that is all wrong for me, with an array of complex PTSD that makes me all wrong for most kinds of work and being outside in general. Everyone else who has spent the past few years far more online than in person probably knows what I mean. What are these conversations we’re supposed to be having? I can’t pause, rewind, adjust volume or enable closed captions on people. [clip of the opening scene of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me would go here if it were easier to find.]
Here is a numbered but chaotic list of attempts at original thoughts, processings of course content and references.
1. This Textbook Took a Side Right Away and Supported its Own Existence
That is to say, the book didn’t introduce the idea of different types of economies with “proponents of the Market Economy would argue that the forces of supply and demand will create equilibrium, whereas others would argue the merits of a planned, mixed or random lottery economy.” Considering the whole rest of the book is full of supply-demand graphs, it acts in its rational self-interest and states that planned economies are for losers and any limits imposed on the market are going to limit the economy’s potential to the detriment of all (Mankiw, 2021, p. 8). That feels like an oversimplification, the way one might bowdlerise anything said by someone they don’t like. (look at that b**ch over there eating crackers, saying Adam Smith and the invisible hand are the heroes of the story. Why don’t you go marry the invisible hand, you cracker-eating b**ch?)
But it’s not. Here’s that whole quote, the underlying tenet of the whole book, with which all the text’s later elaboration is in conversation.
Smith’s great insight was that prices adjust to guide buyers and sellers to reach outcomes that, in many cases, maximize the well-being of society as a whole.
Smith’s insight has an important corollary: when a government prevents prices from adjusting naturally to supply and demand, it impede’s the invisible hand’s ability to coordinate the decisions of the households and firms that make up an economy. This corollary explains why taxes adversely affect the allocation of resources. They distort prices and thus decisions of households and firms. It also explains the problems caused by policies that control prices, such as rent control. And it explains the failure of communism. In communist countries, prices were not determined by the marketplace
Fine. It would be unviable to say, “Well what if we could eliminate scarcity and live happily ever after?” That would have far fewer graphs, wasting the value of a nice, metal ruler and all this graph paper.
2. Taxes…but what about bribes or fines?
Lecture 7 included the secret wisdom, “Economists prefer tax to a ban.”
That was helpful, and I think true in my preferred kind of government: a functional and not-at-all corrupt one. It would make sense to legalize (or decriminalize) things considered vices such as cannabis, (and similar drugs) gambling and sex work. They can be taxed, unionized and regulated to protect consumers and workers from potential harm such as faulty products and abusive or dangerous working conditions.
A corrupt law enforcement system might prefer a ban that punishes the banned behavior or substance with a fine. If the enforcing body is allowed to keep fines and decide how the money is spent, there would be incentive to seek out opportunities to collect multiple fines for multiple offenses, such as a casino that also has illegal drugs and sex workers or anything else illegal. Likewise, if the only consequence is a fine, vice entrepreneurs would have to — among many other considerations — determine if the marginal benefit of offering multiple illegal services is worth the marginal cost of multiple fines if caught. Or if, it’s better to have an alliance of specialists benefitting from being near enough to share customers, but only at risk of paying a fine for their specialty.
An even more corrupt scenario would have bribes.
3. It might be obvious, but moral arguments are irrelevant
I can’t say anything about legalization of cannabis, certain other drugs or other designated vices without mentioning folks who have been imprisoned or otherwise punished for those vices before the ban was lifted.
The text and the presentation of the class has made it clear that rather than arguing matters of morality or philosophy, all discussions of policy must be matters of economics.
And there we have it
Thanks, folks. I think I’ll feel a lot better after the one times session of writing is over. It feels really bad right now to think about that unpleasant classroom with its enormous feedbacky microphone and maybe also buzzy light, the weird smell and the inability to be a reasonable temperature. Also many of my peers have adopted the stance of “go away, stupid freak.”
Not always, maybe not even half. Maybe half there is at least one successful where someone overcomes the great coldness of forgetting how to do in-person conversation, and that makes it all worth it. Other times there is only family.
And on we go for next time
Three would be generous, and it wouldn’t any of those be nice to be able to put together a whole coherent point.
:/
Mankiw, N. G. (2021). Essentials of Economics (9th Ed.) Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.
Someecards. Confession Memes. Once you hate someone, everything they do is offensive. “Look at this bitch eating those crackers like she owns the place.” https://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMS05YjFkMzUwNDEwNjE1ZjQ4/ accessed 5 April 2024.