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rchaud a day ago

Markets only "figure things out" in a petri dish economy where:

1) There are no barriers to entry for competitors (e.g. protectionist tariffs, equal access to capital for everyone)

2) There are perfect substitutes available, so transitioning to a competitor is seamless and free (e.g. no requirement to store data in Country X, no vendor lock-in, no security compliance)

3) The industry is not a "natural monopoly" when only a handful of vendors can operate due to capital investment and national/global distribution required (see power utilities, telecoms, petrochemicals)

4) Profitability attracts competitors (won't happen because of #3), but heavy competition prevents abnormal profits from accumulating to a single player (happens because of #1, #2 and #3)

When markets don't figure things out, as is the case around the world, you get a tangled mess of market failures, government intervention and lobbying to neuter proposed interventions.

infecto a day ago | parent [-]

Markets are never perfect but over the course of history they are a pretty good mechanism to solve these type of problems. Not sure why we think taxing hyperscalers differently is the answer. Government usually does worse than the market when it comes to sorting it out.

My argument is not that market is perfect but that the alternatives are probably far worse, like a new tax on a specific group of companies.

Qiu_Zhanxuan an hour ago | parent | next [-]

it's hard to think when science contradicts your beliefs eh ?

rchaud 13 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The course of history, from borders to leadership choices and technological advances like seafaring has been determined to a much greater extent by organized religion and state-sanctioned warfare than it has by the open and free operation of markets.

infecto 11 hours ago | parent [-]

If you have a consistent example of those solving market supply and demand pricing I am all ears. I read what you said but has little to do with my statement. Over the course of history one of the best mechanisms to solve imbalance is supply and demand has been the market and its ability to eventually set prices correctly. It’s not perfect and it’s not always the best solution but it’s pretty good for these types of problems.

I am all ears for your examples though but I don’t think borders, leadership changes or advances are “this type of problem”

wolvesechoes a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Market only exists due to government.

infecto a day ago | parent [-]

Yes, and? That still does not mean we should add arbitrary taxes for a supply/demand issue.