In article , Ian B
writes

Really, this conversation is utterly depressing. It's not so much that
people don't know about economics- that's fair enough, they have lots of
other things to do. It's the dogged, pig-headed refusal to both understand,
but to hold opinions anyway. It's like somebody who's never studied physics,
saying, "time runs at different speeds, don't be silly!"

Try this. I live in Northampton. Let's say there's this guy Bob, and he
lives in Cardiff. And we both sell roses. And Bob's roses are cheaper than
mine. So, Northampton Town Council get together and they say, "Ian's
business is being transferred to Wales! Let's protect Ian and ban all rose
imports from outside Northamptonshire! That'll work!".

So, that's good for me. Now I can sell expensive roses. But what about
everybody else? They are being denied Bob's cheaper roses. The result is
*fewer roses in Northampton*. It's not a net benefit. It's a net loss. Now
try doing that to every part of the economy; milk, motor cars, lawnmowers,
meat, fish... do you see what happens? The people of Northampton just get
poorer and poorer. You are inducing scarcity, not wealth. Do you see?


You keep disparaging other people's understanding of economics without
knowing the facts. I'm not an economist by trade but I have studied it
in the dim and distant past and try to keep abreast of things.

Tell me - if you ask a dozen professional economists a question, will
you get one consistent answer?

I very much doubt it, even if they were talking from a pure economic
theory pov (which tends to neglect the fact that real people are
involved and there are many other variables in what is a very complex
equation).

Sure, pricing and the elasticity of supply and demand have key effects
on the market. However, they are more complex than a bare theory
allows. And a bare theory finds it difficult to be truly predictive
when it's translated to an inherently complex marketplace.

And I ask again - how far do you go with your free market? A long way
or all the way?

--
regards andyw