Jon Munce

Love all, force none - 40 year student of political economy - survivor of cancer and decades of MN sports heartbreak -
@iowahawkblog gave me a 'like', once.

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

Start with the idea that every person you meet has struggled and been damaged in some way
This damage causes them to not always be truthful, keep promises, or act as they know they should
Love them anyway
But don't let them or anyone rule over you

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@JohnRad15 Sure but

Trade is capitalism

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Why do you say price gouging reigns? What pricing are you looking at?

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Demand plays a huge role!
I read that there's a new penthouse at the top of the Flatiron building in NYC, it's 18M
2 mi away, a flat of similar size is under 1M
When I bought my current house in '14, 5 br 4 bath 3330 SF, 2002 build, many of the houses near me were under 200K

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Look at housing costs in Houston compared to LA
I wouldn't say Houston has an unfettered housing market, but it's much closer to that than LA's

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Markets put more computing power on your wrist for a millionth of the cost then what sent men to the Moon in 1969
Markets will work if we let them

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania The real reason the price dropped is that Ford became very, very good at making cars
They also became very good at lowering input costs
Over the life of the Model T, profit margins certainly dropped, but gross profit barely did - they made up for it in volume

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Guess my main point on monopoly is this
If we stop government from creating them, we really have nothing to fear
They still need to respond to market forces, history shows prices don't just spike
And they are so very few and far between, it's a nothingburger

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania No worries Julian, and let me pause for a moment here and say I really appreciate the civil back and forth
My initial concern was that you were one of those 'burn it all down' progressives, and you're not, I can converse with you rationally - that's much appreciated

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@RantyAmyCurtis I could be very wrong here, it's just conjecture
But my guess is, my gut tells me, this guy has a hell of a temper - someday soon, we'll probably find out about it

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania A natural monopoly does so with zero, or near zero, government meddling (Ford, Model T)
Every town I've ever lived in gave a monopoly to a cable company, pre-2000

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Rent control encourages the withholding of supply, as we are seeing in New York City right now
At a certain price point, landlords cannot maintain properties, so they go unrented, vacant - 50,000 units, by some counts
That's withheld supply

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania I see a lot of assertions in here, and not a lot of data
Democrats have long ago abandoned any objectivity when it comes to business and corporations
You mentioned a CEO admitting jacking up prices? Where is that?

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Best natural monopoly I can think of would probably be Ford and the Model T
Here's the funny thing about that
When it was introduced, it cost $870
By the end of its run, it cost under $300

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania It should tell you something, Julian
The examples you are given are far from natural monopolies, they are government created, through and through
The concessions are a monopoly, obviously
You just mentioned patents in the FDA and regulation, a monopoly, not natural

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania JULIAN I AGREE WITH YOU!
You're absolutely right about the FDA, patents, etc
As I said - we need free markets

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Which CEOs said that?

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania How would you measure 'exceptionally strict'?
Of course supply was withheld, that's what rent control causes!
Based on my information, rents have not reversed - certainly, because inflation is still a problem, they are increasing In nominal terms - but that's a separate problem

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania I'm trying to think of an example of a corporation that obtained a natural monopoly and then substantially raised prices, taking advantage of the monopoly

I have been thinking/reading about economics for 40+ years, and I can't think of a single instance - can you?

[Jon Munce @jonmunce]

@jume0 @RichardHanania Julian, that just doesn't make sense
If corporations think they can raise prices, and people will pay them, they will do it. They don't need an excuse. They don't need any PR reasons - buyers won't just sit there and take it because of something they've read in the news