Lessons In The Free Market

Snoop Dogg knows his audience.

I'm merely speculating that the release date of the book is April 20th.

Gas Pump Activism

It cost me twenty dollars for a little over five gallons of gas today.

How did it get to that point?



That's one promise kept [PDF of the page available for download at the link]:

The next time you fill up, instead of watching in horror as the dollar amount on the pump races by as the gallons trickle into your tank, afix one of these to the pump.

Take care to not cover vital information regarding safety, etc. and don’t cover any advertising.

Then drive off with a smile on your face

A Couple More Points About The Noodle Guy

I missed a couple of things the other day about Rob Lewis the service industry worker, which was graciously linked by Bob Belvedere over at The Camp Of The Saints.

So yeah, I'll be wearing a 'Captain Obvious' cap. Much like before.

Noodles & Company is a franchise. Chances are, Rob's boss isn't even the boss of the company. The franchise location where Rob works under control of the corporation *gasp* of Noodles & Company. Which is done so if someone walks into one franchise store and buys a dish they like, they can walk into any other Noodles & Company and get the same dish, made the same way.

Sure there isn't much of a chance to do variations and custom dishes but the chain stores are helped out in the way of name recognition, a set menu and advertising.

I also forgot to mention risk. Rob's boss had to have put up a substantial sum to get his restaurant running. The franchise fee, lease on the building, deposits on utilities, with money on loan from the bank. He needed all of these done even before he can open the doors to the public. Couple that with the chance his place has a 23% chance of failure within the first year. There's bound to be a few sleepless nights when starting out.

And Johnny Come Lately Rob Lewis wants an equal share of the profits because he can flop a spoonful of stir fry on a plate after watching a ten minute instructional video about the importance of food safety? The level of risk by his boss (lots) isn't exactly the same as the level of risk done by Rob (slim to none).

Even the Bible knew and understood how risk and investment worked. Obviously, Rob has no idea about what actually goes into running a restaurant.

There's an old joke that says, "How do you make a million dollars in the restaurant industry?"

"You start out with two million."

One way to 'earn' that million is to let people like Rob run the place.

Video: "Noodles" Restaurant Worker Not Quite Understanding The Concept Of The Service Industry

Rob Lewis-- the main subject of the clip-- is not even in circle he's trying to square.



Parts of the video is some meeting of a few people who are looking to organize a union for something. One of the guys running the meeting goes into a squawking diatribe about the usual left wing offenses. Koch Brothers, 'The Rich', blah blah blah. It's been said before and will be said again. I'm only thankful that the video is edited enough to where his speech is way less than two minutes.  More info about that meeting here.

I suspect I'm going to be preaching to much of the choir with this. At the very least, most people understands how businesses are ran.

There are two parts where Mr. Lewis is showing his disconnect from reality.

The first part of his disconnect:

“You either work for someone else or you work for yourself. And most people work for someone else in a way that they aren’t free. You don’t really get to decide your work. For example, I work at Noodles, a restaurant, and basically it’s a dictatorship there. We’re told exactly what we’re going to cook, how we’re going to cook it, what time we’re going to get there. And basically if they don’t like what we’re doing, they try and tell us what to do. If we don’t listen, they get rid of us,” the employee said.

He's correct to a point about working for someone else or for yourself. Most people are employed by someone else. But its a mutual exchange. For the most part, it's time and labor on behalf of the employee in exchange for a set rate of dollars per hour. If Rob doesn't like it, he can leave Noodles and work elsewhere. Maybe he can find a job with a higher rate of pay. That's part of the perks and risks of living in a free market. All this should have been taught in Econ 101 in high school.

It can be said that even self-employed people are still working for people. Directly for their clients and customers.

As a restaurant that is dependent on repeat service and loyal clientele, consistency in food preparation is key. If the customers who walk into Noodles don't like their food, they will go someplace else next time. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area who would be happy to take in the hungry customer. Noodles doesn't have the benefit of being on the exit ramp near a busy highway where most customers would be one timers.

The second part of the disconnect is here:

The employee continued, “And so we’re not able to actually cooperate in a way that we make decisions together. I try to convince my fellow employees that we should have a union at Noodles so it’s a source of power to start with and then I think in terms of the bigger picture, we need to look at revolutions in a way that you actually get rid of any sort of dictatorship is by having workers take control of the place where they work.”

Who knows what kind of guy Mr. Lewis's boss is. But the key is that Mr. Lewis is free to leave the job and work elsewhere. His boss is the person who put up the money to buy the franchise of Noodles. He rents the building that the restaurant is located at. He has to make it work so that his employees get paid. Keep an eye out on the food. And so on and so forth. Stands to reason why he should be receiving a larger share.

And as a service industry based restaurant based in a college town, I'm sure that he has no end of job applicants to sort through. And with a minimal amount of training, the new person can be serving noodles with the best of them.

There may be a few other reasons but the main reason why people like Mr. Lewis want to unionize such an entry level position is for protection. He should be happy to have a job.

Now if only he would use his energy for socialism towards his job, he might eventually become a free market kind of guy.

Anyway: Stick with the video until the very end to see the free market transaction take place and you'll be doing one of these.

The Outrageous Outrage Of The Eon. Chick-Fil-A Is Owned By Christians!

Because supporing Chick-Fil-A leaves a "bad taste" in some people's mouths.

Fast food being fast food, most people don't go to Chick-Fil-A for the 5 star atmosphere. They go for a tasty sandwich for lunch or dinner, fast. Chick-Fil-A offers that. And a hand dipped shake, made the old fashioned way.

What keeps drawing me back is the customer service. When the person behind the counter hands you your food and you say, "Thank you", you'll hear something back that you would never hear at 95% of other fast food restaurants. "It was my pleasure."

The employees there seem more cheerful than at, say, a Taco Bell. Where the chalupa is carelessly tossed on a tray and someone shouts, "Number 87!" and walks away.

It's a small touch but it makes a difference. I know it’s their store policy but it's the same policy that many sit down restaurants have as well. Why limit it to those? It's a welcome change in the world of fast food.

If someone doesn't like Chick-Fil-A, don't go to Chick-Fil-A. Kentucky Fried Chicken is open on Sundays. That's the beauty of a free market. Choices.

But for some people, it's not a matter of personal choices. Robert Stacy points out that:

All of this goes to illustrate the totalitarian spirit of gay-rights radicalism, which aims toward the extirpation of dissent.

The radicals will not be satisfied so long as anyone is permitted to disagree with, disapprove of, or criticize homosexuality.

As I've said on here before, liberals have a "If I don't like 'A', you can't like 'A' either" attitude. Astounding the lack of tolerance that exists among those who claim to be the tolerant ones.

Besides, it's food. Most people go because of food. I don't shun Panera Bread because their CEO is a "No Labels" advocate. They have an amazing French Onion Soup and incredible sandwiches. And the food keeps you feeling full long after you have finished eating.

As for me and my house and Chick-Fil-A? I will eat there 9 times out of ten (the tenth time being a Sunday).

Video: Value Added Tax Explained

Dan Mitchell lays out how the VAT works, in theory and in real life applications by using other countries as examples. Sort of a preview of things to come.

It's For The Children

AKA: How To Deal With The Teacher's Union.
By sh!tcanning the entire lot.

[A school superintendent's] plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.

The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000.[bold mine]
[. . .]
The school superintendent has responded to the union's stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.

Goes to show what the teacher's union really cares about.

Via Glenn Reynolds.

My Friend Sara

This Idea Won Bob McDonnell At Least 5 Points In The Election

Close the state controlled ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control) stores and open it up for the free market? About time. More liquor locations with better hours without the overhead that Virginia provides. Sounds win/win to me.



Via Instapundit.

Broken At Last

Susan B. Anthony. Jackie Robinson. Markus.

The 'Glass Ceiling' is in shards in Nevada. The way has been cleared for male gigolos everywhere.

The Shady Lady Ranch successfully won state and county approval to clear the way for the "prostidude," as Nevada's newest sex worker is already being called. After a slow first week on the job, his first appointments are scheduled for this weekend.

"Markus" has quickly become the center of attention in Nevada's brothel industry. He has been criticized by female counterparts for not being willing to have sex with men. And he created a dustup after telling Details Magazine that his pioneering role in the sex business was "just the same" as civil rights icon Rosa Parks refusing to move to the back of the bus.

Quite the niche market.

He'll be competing with other guys who will happily offer the same service for free. Thousands of guys offering their services for free. And won't be looking at the clock to see if the hour is up yet.

If the argument is that the woman isn't attractive enough for guys to offer her that service then she isn't looking. There will be a man out there who will be happy to.

Nice publicity for the brothel, however. Better invest in Viagra for Markus. Women can fake their performances better than men. And won't need the downtime either.

Thanks to Matt for the story.

Unions And The Free Market

From Friedrich Hayek himself. Talking in an old TV interview about how unions are detrimental to a free market society.



Added because it's Hayek related

It's on! Keynes VS. Hayek.

Without the Keynesian public policy initiatives, the economy would not have become supercharged from 2002 until 2007, the credit crisis would not have occurred and the nation’s growth during the next decade would be higher and more stable.

You will never hear this discussed in our congressional hearings—they will be busy bashing business leaders in the private sector.

Hayek would say, “Just leave it alone and the economy will do fine.”

Keynes would say, “Intervention by government is essential to avoid disasters.”

The Achilles heel in Keynes’s thinking was the assumption of wise governance.

I clipped this from the second page of the article but be sure to read the whole thing.

Now In Technicolor

Interesting seeing how this was made over fifty years ago. Don't worry about the voice over at the beginning but stick with it for the cartoon.

Do They Even Listen To Themselves Speak?

Both are short clips and speak for themselves.





Thanks to Michelle's special posting at Hot Air.

Free Markets As A House

This gets to the heart of the issue why the free market did not fail.

[. . .]Here’s an analogy that illustrates what happened.

In April, 2001, Private Sector Architects draws up plans for a three-story house. The prospective owner hires Capitalism Builders to construct it. The Free Market Sawmill is chosen to supply the lumber. The project is scheduled to take eight years. Construction begins.

Every night, men from the U.S. Bureau of Standards sneak into the Free Market Sawmill and the offices of Capitalism Builders and replace all of the rulers and tape measures. Some days the inches get longer, but most days they get shorter. By March, 2008, the inch is only 25% of what it was seven years before.

As a result, the two-by-fours being produced by the Free Market Sawmill in 2008 have only one-sixteenth the load-bearing capacity of 2001 lumber. Some workers express concern because the latest two-by-fours are looking pretty flimsy. However, when checked, the boards still measure two inches by four inches.

In September, 2008, a group of school children is taken on a tour of the just-completed third floor of the house. The building collapses, causing many injuries. The Krugman Blame Bureau surveys the wreckage and declares that Capitalism and the Free Market have failed.

Read the entire post. Thanks to Jim for the link.

Cross posted at the Richmond Tea Party: The Blog.

The Free Market System In Action

My six year old daughter has had a loose tooth for some time now. When I wiggled it for her, she paniced slightly, not wanting it to be pulled. Last night, the tooth finally worked itself loose enough to pull. So when I offered her a dollar if I can pull it, on top of what the Tooth Fairy would bring her, she agreed.

A quick tug later, we both walked away, feeling richer than we had before. I had my fatherhood memento and she had a new, crisp one dollar bill in her hand. She soon doubled that by putting the tooth under her pillow and another dollar appeared that morning. The magic of the free market at work.

Cap And Trade, Part Two

If you do not use electric light, store food in a freezer or refrigerator, or drive a car to a job, then there is nothing to worry about. Everyone else, however, will be hit in their pocket book in the back-end of this deal.

Hit hardest would be the "95% of working families" Mr. Obama keeps mentioning, usually omitting that his no-new-taxes pledge comes with the caveat "unless you use energy." Putting a price on carbon is regressive by definition because poor and middle-income households spend more of their paychecks on things like gas to drive to work, groceries or home heating.

It's a make believe tax that hits producers and manufacturers that will pass the cost down the line. It won't stop supposed global warming anymore than a property tax on Neverland will help to fix local roads.

More talk about Cap and Trade here and here.

Thank you, Stacy, for the FMJRA.

Cap and Trade

I could be wrong but I don't think that people in mainstream of America really understand the proposed Cap and Trade program and how it will affect everyone. First, let me just state that I am not an authority on Cap and Trade but I do want to attempt to share some of the basics about the program as I understand them. You can be sure that I am not going to get all mixed up with every little detail – in part because the objective of this article is to keep it as simple as possible – and because I simply don't have the back ground to.

The first part of the program is "Cap" – meaning that the new law would put a cap on the amount of carbon that a producer could emit into the atmosphere. Carbon emission producers are factories, energy plants, paper mills and many others. Many carbon emission producers currently emit more carbon than what the new cap would allow. Which brings us to the second part of the program – "Trade". With the new cap in place those companies who produce above the cap limit would not be allowed to continue to operate unless they either reduced their carbon emissions or found a partner to "trade" cap space with.

Essentially, the trade would involve one company purchasing the ability to produce carbon emission above and beyond their allowable cap for a price. Companies who don't produce as many carbon emissions as others would be in a position to sell their carbon cap space to other companies who are overproducing or above the carbon emissions cap.

Over the long run this would encourage industries to find ways to continue to make their products with less carbon emissions. In fact… The forces of the Cap and Trade system acting on the market would produce a few outcomes. First – carbon emissions would be lowered, which is theoretically a good thing. Second – there would be advances in technology brought about by industries trying to find new ways to make their products without producing as much carbon. And third – the products that these industries and companies produce would be more expensive due to absorbing the operating expenses of the Cap and Trade system.

How much more expensive? I don't know but… I do know that when my wife and I are happy that our electricity bill came back down to $640 this month as compared to $770 last month – we do not want to see anything put in motion right now that would force prices, especially energy prices to go any higher than they already are - period!

Here is an idea Mr. President – how about we get through this economic crisis first – then we can save the world with your cap and trade plan.

Duff in Playboy?

Duff McKagan, the one time band member of Guns 'N' Roses has moved on from the lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock n roll. He's in a world of tickers, markets, and deadlines (something Axel knew nothing about). And I'm not ashamed to admit to google baiting with the title as well.

How the hell is it that I will to be writing about money matters for Playboy? Well, over the last few years, I have been doing more and more TV and print interviews regarding some faction of finance. It started in 2004 when a writer for some music newspaper asked me about my experience going to business-school after my career with GNR.

Playboy had articles (the school yard jokes write themselves). Via the Open Market Blog by way of CEI. Really. And RSM mentioned CEI.

More of This Kind of Courage.

It's a plan that makes sense. Sure it will be rough but not any rougher than drawing out a resession any longer than necessary. From over at the Politico.

“Our standard of living needs to come down to the point where it can be supported by organic output,” says Schiff. “It’s brutal, but it’s called capitalism, and it works. The alternative is called socialism, and it doesn’t work.”
. . .
They say that borrowing more money to finance a stimulus package will pass a crushing and possibly permanent debt load on to the next generation. “The question is,” says Chris Edwards, the director of tax policy studies at Cato, “is this morally proper?”
. . .
The most noticeable impact is that housing prices are coming down to a more sustainable level. For first-time buyers, this is reopening a path to homeownership that had been all but blocked by hyper-inflated prices.

Finally being able to clean out my blog fodder file.