tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post1771153162212412737..comments2024-03-28T15:05:33.781+13:00Comments on Economics New Zealand: Playing monopolyDonal Curtinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687495556590450225noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post-57700193481702184592015-03-28T11:47:29.773+13:002015-03-28T11:47:29.773+13:00I also could have added that (a) we don't know...I also could have added that (a) we don't know the counterfactual to Fonterra, though I;d guess there was a highly realistic chance of creating several successful vertically integrated companies and not just one, and (b) Fonterra's "success" (and I'm not knocking its management etc, I'm perfectly prepared to believe it's well run of its kind) has come against the background of what may have been the greatest empowerment of middle-class purchasing power, in China, that economic history has ever seen. Anyone, monopoly or not, selling shovels in a gold rush will do wellDonal Curtinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03687495556590450225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post-49044521998829774372015-03-26T16:16:44.544+13:002015-03-26T16:16:44.544+13:00A comment so good, it was worth posting twice!A comment so good, it was worth posting twice!Donal Curtinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03687495556590450225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post-31871585827543754082015-03-26T15:35:02.601+13:002015-03-26T15:35:02.601+13:00As Adam Smith put it,
"People of the same tr...As Adam Smith put it,<br /><br />"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. It is impossible indeed to prevent such meetings, by any law which either could be executed, or would be consistent with liberty or justice. But though the law cannot hinder people of the same trade from sometimes assembling together, it ought to do nothing to facilitate such assemblies; much less to render them necessary"<br /><br />On behalf of the public the question I find myself asking when I see proposals like this is, What will it do for the consumer? The answer I come up with is, not much. Most of these ideas amount to a way of getting the government to transfer welfare from consumers to producers.Paul Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13731003529546075700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342528022617501525.post-53124586577553210402015-03-26T15:34:41.216+13:002015-03-26T15:34:41.216+13:00This comment has been removed by the author.Paul Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13731003529546075700noreply@blogger.com