tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post8635387694228522..comments2024-03-17T00:23:24.896-07:00Comments on Social Democracy for the 21st Century: A Realist Alternative to the Modern Left: Early Literature on Administered PricingLord Keyneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-37013260143064767852013-08-31T05:05:55.490-07:002013-08-31T05:05:55.490-07:00I am not aware of any photo of Means online.I am not aware of any photo of Means online.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-8247754780546308462013-08-31T03:03:27.417-07:002013-08-31T03:03:27.417-07:00Hello!
I am looking for a picture of Gardiner Mea...Hello!<br /><br />I am looking for a picture of Gardiner Means and have looked and looked and could not find a decent one. Could anybody help please?<br />That would be greatly appreciated.Benhttp:////unil.chnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-67849763985465131522013-05-09T01:46:04.021-07:002013-05-09T01:46:04.021-07:00Yes, Roddis is devoid of any serious argument, isn...Yes, Roddis is devoid of any serious argument, isn't he.<br /><br />If ad hominem arguments were valid, then we could dismiss all of Austrian economics simply by pointing out that Mises praised Italian fascism in a disgraceful manner:<br /><br />http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2010/10/mises-on-fascism-in-1927-embarrassment.html<br /><br />Or that the lunatic Rothbard believed in torture:<br /><br />http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2011/10/rothbard-on-torture.html<br />Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-30648584767197023122013-05-08T23:49:36.268-07:002013-05-08T23:49:36.268-07:00Yes Lord Keynes!I am stunned by the stupidity of t...Yes Lord Keynes!I am stunned by the stupidity of this Bob Robbis,he seem to be a simpleton in extreme,and it tells something since it´s a internet Austrian!I don´t even understand what sort calculation this Bob refer to.it´s a very confused soul.These Austrian trolls use to bring the Mises et al.calculation debate way back in the 30s but i can´t understand how he could implement that to the discussion on the topic you bring up in this well written blog article.It don´t make sence! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-21105737377931661232013-05-08T22:53:11.284-07:002013-05-08T22:53:11.284-07:00"Why would a firm wish to improve quality or ..."Why would a firm wish to improve quality or reduce costs if not to maximize profits ?"<br /><br />Competition is mostly about maintaining market share in the majority of cases. You need to have enough business - whatever enough is.<br /><br />People buy from people and all the variance of human behaviour feeds into that.<br /><br />It just isn't a mechanical process and it changes depending upon the feeling in the air - which is based upon people talking to each other and getting a sense of the the general mood. <br /><br />That's what "animal spirits" are all about. NeilWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11565959939525324309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-34672910889171872942013-05-08T21:55:26.479-07:002013-05-08T21:55:26.479-07:00Anonymous, Roddis is laughable and there is no rea...Anonymous, Roddis is laughable and there is no reason for anyone to take him seriously.<br /><br />Notice how he's incapable of answering a simple question about the Austrian "economic calculation" that he says no Keynesian else understands.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-21540370095176453362013-05-08T18:00:50.875-07:002013-05-08T18:00:50.875-07:00No Bob.you shown to be an illiterarate on Austrian...No Bob.you shown to be an illiterarate on Austrian economics,you don´t even know basic Austrian economics!Lord Keynes have been kind enough to educate you on the topic.It explains your latest smearings and personal attacks on the real J.M Keynes on other places.I would say you by that totally discredited yourself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-91589784331100093522013-05-08T17:03:56.611-07:002013-05-08T17:03:56.611-07:00By the way LK,our deeply beloved and admired frien...By the way LK,our deeply beloved and admired friend, the profound thinker Bob Roddis,reach new intellectual hight´s in his attempt to in all ways discredite Keynsian theory by using all sort of ad-homs and personal attacs.I guess it´s as fare an internet Austrian could reach. <br />"Niall Ferguson’s apology is an epic fail"<br />http://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/niall-fegusons-apology-is-an-epic-fail/#comment-4801 Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-87750726541003113562013-05-08T14:30:39.976-07:002013-05-08T14:30:39.976-07:00So:
the price of a good = cost + markup
one of t...So:<br /><br />the price of a good = cost + markup<br /><br />one of those costs is skilled labor which "Nobody denies that supply and demand" is a factor in its cost.<br /><br />But this demand will depend upon the demand for, and the price of , the good in question.<br /><br />So wages supposedly both contribute to determining the price of a good and are at the same time determined by it.<br /><br />This is not viable and shows what is wrong with the cost+markup model. <br /><br /><br />Rob Rawlingsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-49251406719092069522013-05-08T13:36:03.857-07:002013-05-08T13:36:03.857-07:00I am sure there is scholarly work on it somewhere,...I am sure there is scholarly work on it somewhere, but I would have to do a literature search.<br /><br />Also, private health care costs make US car manufacturing more expensive -- US competitors have national, universal health care systems, so that means car manufacturers in Europe or Japan are not hit with providing health benefits to workers, or at least not to the same extent.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-43682168160845664642013-05-08T13:30:57.604-07:002013-05-08T13:30:57.604-07:00Interesting... So are you saying that prices adjus...Interesting... So are you saying that prices adjusted in a flexible manner towards their market clearing levels is NOT a fundamental element in Austrian price theory and in Misesian economic calculation?<br /><br />Can you give a direct answer to that question? It would easy for a knowledgeable person familiar with basic Austrian concepts!<br />Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-67372965904744181222013-05-08T13:24:32.635-07:002013-05-08T13:24:32.635-07:00(1) if minimum wage laws apply, then that will be ...(1) if minimum wage laws apply, then that will be a floor. If unions are some degree of power in the industry, then they will have influence on wages. <br /><br />Nobody denies that supply and demand, negotiation, etc. can and does enter into the picture.<br /><br />(2) already answered that. A business can look at what its profit markup was in the past, what its competitors charge; a new business could also take a guess, based on their perception of quality of product or what their customers will accept, and what competitors charge. <br /><br />It is summed by Lee 1998, 226, with a vast citation of the empirical evidence:<br /><br /><i>"custom, convention, tradition, reasonableness, and short- and long-term competition are predominate among the determinants of the mark up for profit."</i>Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-39060337493311384832013-05-08T13:20:21.428-07:002013-05-08T13:20:21.428-07:00You still do not or will not understand economic c...You still do not or will not understand economic calculation and therefore you cannot or will not understand what follows from economic calculation. Further, you do not understand the difference between a voluntary exchange and an exchange subject to various types of intervention especially the impact of Keynesian interventions upon economic calculation. Finally, your silly attempt to extract the concept of changing prices into a straight jacket that excludes the plain meaning of "prices of what and how much of what" is dishonest. Since you still think your silly "fixprice" example refutes Mises and the Austrians, I want to present a thorough explanation of my position that will minimize your inevitable attempt to distort it.Bob Roddishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17263804608074597937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-88449688052842582952013-05-08T12:59:28.909-07:002013-05-08T12:59:28.909-07:00During my blue-collar days, I was interested in un...During my blue-collar days, I was interested in understanding the political economy of my industry...the US automobile Big Three, in the aftermath of the Chrysler loan guarantees. I ran across the efforts of Estes Kefauver, both in a book discussing (in part)auto "administered" pricing, and in the form of congressional hearings on the topic. GM had a level of market dominance and economies of scale that permitted it to unilaterally set automobile prices. Ford followed suit, and Chrysler was always a relatively marginal player, dragged along in the wake of GM. And how were those prices set? They calculated the monthly car payment that their customers could carry, and worked backwards to arrive at prices that reflected the target monthly note. Oligopolistic pricing and fantastic profits, at least until its hegemonic position was undermined by the entry of the Europeans and Japanese.<br />Has anyone in the economics profession written about this phenomenon?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-52991309305148338332013-05-08T12:57:51.601-07:002013-05-08T12:57:51.601-07:00Questions:
- How does Post-Keynsian theory belie...Questions: <br /><br />- How does Post-Keynsian theory believe that wage levels for skilled workers are set ?<br /><br />- What is the quick answer to the question "what determines the level of mark-up that firms charge" ?Rob Rawlingsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-39416117759358855362013-05-08T12:26:05.443-07:002013-05-08T12:26:05.443-07:00In case you are unclear:
(1) economic utility in ...In case you are unclear:<br /><br />(1) economic utility in the sense of the pleasure, happiness, or satisfaction people derive from consumption goods is subjective; but "utility" in this sense is not the same thing as price.<br /><br />(2) businesses ultimately would not produce things that nobody demands, or that is to say that people wish to buy with money and consume.<br /><br />These 2 propositions are true, are consistent with Post Keynesian price theory, and proposition (2) also implies that demand drives production and investment.<br /><br />Prices for certain raw materials and commodities are flexprice and driven by supply and demand. <br /><br />But a vast range of other goods, both capital goods and consumer goods are not. They fixprice. The price is set by businesses and remains mostly unchanged when demand changes.<br /><br />And as for the idea that fixprice theory does not explain how mark-ups are derived, the bibliography above gives you a vast literature showing actually how businesses in the real world set mark-ups: it depends on the industry concerned, what the competition charges, etc.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-54262587528190181532013-05-08T12:06:45.356-07:002013-05-08T12:06:45.356-07:00"No. I just told you:.. etc."
Great! Th...<i>"No. I just told you:.. etc."</i><br /><br />Great! Then ignore the second question with the quotations, and just give a direct, clear answer to question (1):<br /><br />Are you saying that prices adjusted in a flexible manner towards their market clearing levels is NOT a fundamental element in Austrian price theory and in Misesian economic calculation?<br /><br />Come on, an intelligent fellow like you -- what, with all your years of reading Austrian economics and clear understanding of economic calculation!!<br /><br />Surely you can tell us "yes" or "no"!<br /><br />Or are you terrified that an honest, clear answer would reveal that you are ignorant of basic Austrian concepts?Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-76409371116282927542013-05-08T12:03:54.022-07:002013-05-08T12:03:54.022-07:00I would rather think that people reading this wou...I would rather think that people reading this would instead marvel at a model centered upon "price = cost+markup" that can explain neither how cost nor how mark-ups are derived !Rob Rawlingsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-5852272723483936452013-05-08T12:01:54.709-07:002013-05-08T12:01:54.709-07:00No. I just told you:
I'm going to read the e...No. I just told you:<br /><br />I'm going to read the entire article first. Your question[s] always appear to be out-of-context attempts at "gotcha". <br /><br />I want to make sure I understand the precise context of each word and punctuation mark. Bob Roddishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17263804608074597937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-36165216311762954492013-05-08T11:24:52.235-07:002013-05-08T11:24:52.235-07:00So after all these comments, the essence of what y...So after all these comments, the essence of what you're saying is: <br /><br />"yes, many firms set prices by means of cost of production plus profit markup. <br /><br />But I don't think that conflicts with neoclassical price theory at all, even though it sees prices as being flexible in response to demand changes and adjusted towards their market clearing levels."<br /><br />Let people read this and marvel.Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-1135021386504421552013-05-08T11:13:40.132-07:002013-05-08T11:13:40.132-07:00"Didn't you read what I wrote?...."
..."Didn't you read what I wrote?...."<br /><br />I agree that all the things you list here are relevant to the behavior of firms in a modern economy and will contribute to the observed existence of sticky prices.<br /><br />I think however to conclude from this that "cost + markup" is the determining factor in how prices are set is incorrect.<br /><br />It is simply impossible to build a coherent model where "cost + markup" drives prices. Rather one needs a marginalist foundation to show how prices are determined. From this it is possible to show how prices will adjust so that "cost + markup" becomes true. And from there it will be possible to show why firms may adopt strategies based upon "cost + markup" in order to be sucessful.<br /><br />But to deny the marginalists basis for pricing as Post-Keynsians seem to do is to adopt a model that is both circular and incoherent.<br /><br />Rob Rawlingsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-47408927870093533502013-05-08T11:11:16.342-07:002013-05-08T11:11:16.342-07:00So you're saying that you do not even know whe...So you're saying that you do not even know whether prices adjusted in a flexible manner towards their market clearing levels is a fundamental element in Austrian price theory and in Misesian economic calculation? <br /><br />In other words, you are ignorant of basic Austrian concepts?Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-33975489948372243622013-05-08T10:59:44.133-07:002013-05-08T10:59:44.133-07:00I'm going to read the entire article first. Y...I'm going to read the entire article first. Your question[s] always appear to be out-of-context attempts at "gotcha". <br /><br />http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE6_2_5.pdfBob Roddishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17263804608074597937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-135544885834880752013-05-08T10:53:31.398-07:002013-05-08T10:53:31.398-07:00"What? Scarcity does not influence price, eve..."What? Scarcity does not influence price, even in flexprice raw materials markets?"<br /><br />A good that is scarce will still have a zero price if no one values it.<br /><br />"Is there any room here for basic wage rates below nobody can live in this statement? Union power?"<br /><br />The wage rate will be determined by both supply and demand. Unions can undoubtedly affect the supply, but consumer preference will still ultimately determine the demand.<br /><br />Rob Rawlingsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6245381193993153721.post-47658144999701891022013-05-08T09:17:58.771-07:002013-05-08T09:17:58.771-07:00" The costs of a scarce raw material (or of s...<i>" The costs of a scarce raw material (or of skilled labor) cannot be derived from any attribute it possesses</i><br /><br />What? Scarcity does not influence price, even in flexprice raw materials markets?<br /><br /><i> but only from the price people are prepared to pay for goods embodying it."</i><br /><br />Is there any room here for basic wage rates below nobody can live in this statement? Union power?<br />Lord Keyneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06556863604205200159noreply@blogger.com