Comment Re:Ah... that explains the cheap food (Score 1) 1519
Our healthy groceries are expensive because subsidies go to the large companies that make foods with additives and using growth hormones and such. The invisible hand does not work because corporations are for their own self interest, and that is not acceptable when it comes to healthcare, education, food, or anything else that is considered a necessity. Take the old Pinto case, the company did a cost evaluation on the fact that people would die and the amount of the lawsuits that would result. Now think about how our whole healthcare system is set up. It does not make sense to allow corporations to run anything of public concern at all, they are always INCREASING the cost because of their NEED for profit maximization.
This is also why there is so much pollution and waste. They PUBLIC absorbs those costs, not the "free market" companies causing the waste. In the USA, corporations are given a free ride for most of the costs they inherently create, and while this keeps the price of the good itself lower, it does not take into account the TOTAL cost due to other "externalities".
As for the increase in cost of clothing... that has actually gone down dramatically because of trade agreements. Again, companies are able to use slave labor in other countries to make goods cheaper in the USA, but do not pay the overall cost to the world at large. With globalization, the impact of everything becomes much more apparent... on a world stage. But easier for those of us in the USA to ignore the real cost because the burden is put on other countries. Just look where so much of our toxic waste ends up... poor countries.
This is also why there is so much pollution and waste. They PUBLIC absorbs those costs, not the "free market" companies causing the waste. In the USA, corporations are given a free ride for most of the costs they inherently create, and while this keeps the price of the good itself lower, it does not take into account the TOTAL cost due to other "externalities".
As for the increase in cost of clothing... that has actually gone down dramatically because of trade agreements. Again, companies are able to use slave labor in other countries to make goods cheaper in the USA, but do not pay the overall cost to the world at large. With globalization, the impact of everything becomes much more apparent... on a world stage. But easier for those of us in the USA to ignore the real cost because the burden is put on other countries. Just look where so much of our toxic waste ends up... poor countries.
