Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[LesPalenik]

Competition limits higher pricing.  No one is forcing you to buy Leica.

No one would force me to buy Leica, but several car rental companies attempted (and sometimes suceeded) in screwing me. The days of $5 car rental/day are definitely over.

[James Clark]

It was the government that shut down the economy.  Now it's going to screw it up even more by printing more and causing huge price increases.  It rather than free markets will decide where huge amounts of money will be spent adding to the misallocations.  It's socialism not capitalism that's making a mess out of it.

Having a monetary policy is not socialism any more than demand exceeding supply is inflation.  Y’all need to stop diluting your scare words.   It’s the rightwing equivalent of OMGRACISM! 

[PeterAit]

Greed rules today's business.

Greed has always ruled business.

[PeterAit]

I;ve counted over two dozen including the large national ones like Avis, Hertz, Budget, National etc. Then there are loads of local rental places.
https://www.google.com/search?q=car+rental+hawaii&oq=car+rental+ha&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i131i433j0l3.12544j0j7&client=tablet-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#trex=m_r:1,m_t:gwp,rc_q:car%2520rental%2520hawaii,rc_ui:2,ru_gwp:0%252C6,ru_q:car%2520rental%2520hawaii,trex_id:UNzB3c

Enterprise owns both National and Alamo. Avis owns Budget, Payless, and Zipcar. Hertz owns Dollar and Thrifty. Together, these three companies account for 95 percent of the domestic car rental industry.

[chez]

I;ve counted over two dozen including the large national ones like Avis, Hertz, Budget, National etc. Then there are loads of local rental places.
https://www.google.com/search?q=car+rental+hawaii&oq=car+rental+ha&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i131i433j0l3.12544j0j7&client=tablet-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#trex=m_r:1,m_t:gwp,rc_q:car%2520rental%2520hawaii,rc_ui:2,ru_gwp:0%252C6,ru_q:car%2520rental%2520hawaii,trex_id:UNzB3c

The big guys are all owned by two big conglomerate companies.

[chez]

Competition limits higher pricing.  No one is forcing you to buy Leica.

You really thinks so Alan? Do you really think the price of vehicles will drop to pre COVID prices? Not a chance.

[chez]

It was the government that shut down the economy.  Now it's going to screw it up even more by printing more and causing huge price increases.  It rather than free markets will decide where huge amounts of money will be spent adding to the misallocations.  It's socialism not capitalism that's making a mess out of it.

But let’s not forget the health disaster that would still be flying high if the capitalists had their way. The hell with everyone dying, I need to have my Starbucks double frapichino.

[Alan Klein]

Having a monetary policy is not socialism any more than demand exceeding supply is inflation.  Y’all need to stop diluting your scare words.   It’s the rightwing equivalent of OMGRACISM! 

When the government's monetary policy redistributes money, prints money, commands the economy, etc, that's socialism.  Economies work better if they maximize free markets and private investment. Your get better products at lower cost for more people.

[Alan Klein]

Greed has always ruled business.

Employees are also greedy.  However, greed is offset by fear.  If you raise your prices too high, you'll lose the sale as the business goes to the competition.  If you ask too much in salary, the job goes to someone else. 

[Alan Klein]

Enterprise owns both National and Alamo. Avis owns Budget, Payless, and Zipcar. Hertz owns Dollar and Thrifty. Together, these three companies account for 95 percent of the domestic car rental industry.

And your point is?  The camera industry is divided up similarly among Canon, Nikon, and Sony at around 85%.  The rest of the manufacturers split up the balance.  Do you think there's not enough competition or selection?

[Alan Klein]

You really thinks so Alan? Do you really think the price of vehicles will drop to pre COVID prices? Not a chance.

Non-sequitar. What does inflation have to do with competition?  More inflation (money printing) tends to raise process and more competition tends to lower prices, all other things remaining equal.

[Alan Klein]

But let’s not forget the health disaster that would still be flying high if the capitalists had their way. The hell with everyone dying, I need to have my Starbucks double frapichino.

We can argue about whether shutting down the economy was good or bad for health.  But now that the economy is opening up again, let's not shoot ourselves in the foot more going way more into debt and money printing.  Let the economy rebound naturally.  All that debt the government produces has to be paid back with interest, by us whether with higher taxes or higher costs for things due to inflation. 

[Peter McLennan]

Alan, your amateur global economist persona is getting reeeeeeeely tiresome.  Give it a rest, please.

[digitaldog]

Alan, your amateur global economist persona is getting reeeeeeeely tiresome.  Give it a rest, please.

Again, he is incapable of this request. Easier to post nonsense than post photography he's 'made'. 
When everyone ignores him (or he ignores everyone), this posting nonsense of his stops.

[Alan Klein]

Alan, your amateur global economist persona is getting reeeeeeeely tiresome.  Give it a rest, please.

I'd be glad to hear your opinions on these matters.

[chez]

UPDATE: By Sunday, May 16 2021, the Covid death total in US will exceed 600,000. That's over 86,000 deaths in 2.5 months since March 1.
According to worldometer stats, Friday's total was 752, Saturday's 499.

Projecting 400-450 additional deaths on an average for the remaining 229 days of the year, the total US toll by year end could reach 700,000.

Wake me up when it hits 60,000...oh wait...

[LesPalenik]

Wake me up when it hits 60,000...oh wait...

\

The day when this noted statement was first published was March 28, 2020 and the total C19 death count in US at that time was a staggering 1988 deaths. In late 2020 and early 2021, there were numerous days with many more daily deaths than between January 20, 2020 (first reported C19 case in US) and March 2020.

[Peter McLennan]

The day when this noted statement was first published was March 28, 2020 and the total C19 death count in US at that time was a staggering 1988 deaths.

And, notably, he's not been seen here since.

[LesPalenik]

For a change, a switch to politics.
On May 17, 2020,  Kevin Paffrath of the popular youtube channel Meet Kevin announced officially his candidacy for a governer of California.
This might turn out to become the best show in 2021. Not only is Kevin a smart, popular, young, successful, principled and very likeable youtuber, but he also knows how to harness the power of youtube and other social media. It will be a very interesting race and if he wins, it will be a new beginning for the state of California.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umLA4b0g0X0&t=655s

[Alan Klein]

For a change, a switch to politics.
On May 17, 2020,  Kevin Paffrath of the popular youtube channel Meet Kevin announced officially his candidacy for a governer of California.
This might turn out to become the best show in 2021. Not only is Kevin a smart, popular, young, successful, principled and very likeable youtuber, but he also knows how to harness the power of youtube and other social media. It will be a very interesting race and if he wins, it will be a new beginning for the state of California.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umLA4b0g0X0&t=655s

He is a smart guy but I wonder at his young age under 30 whether he has the experience to be an executive of a big state like California.