Changes

{{Economics_Lectures}}

{{Economics_Lectures}}

One miracle is mentioned in all four Gospels of the Bible: the multiplication of the loaves and fish by Jesus to feed the crowd of thousands.  It illustrates God easily '''''overcoming''''' a scarcity in food.  Similarly, the devout Puritans overcame scarcity and created wealth under harsh conditions in New England in the early 1600s.  Apparently scarcity is a bigger problem in the absence of God.

One miracle is mentioned in all four Gospels of the Bible: the multiplication of the loaves and fish by Jesus to feed the crowd of thousands.  It illustrates God easily '''''overcoming''''' a scarcity in food.  Similarly, the devout Puritans overcame scarcity and created wealth under harsh conditions in New England in the early 1600s.  Apparently scarcity is a bigger problem in the absence of God.

:Airfares, when adjusted for inflation, have fallen 25 percent since 1991, and ... are 22 percent lower than they would have been had regulation continued. Since passenger deregulation in 1978, airline prices have fallen 44.9 percent in real terms according to the Air Transport Association. ...  [W]hen figures are adjusted for changes in quality and amenities, '''passengers save $19.4 billion dollars per year from airline deregulation'''.  

:Airfares, when adjusted for inflation, have fallen 25 percent since 1991, and ... are 22 percent lower than they would have been had regulation continued. Since passenger deregulation in 1978, airline prices have fallen 44.9 percent in real terms according to the Air Transport Association. ...  [W]hen figures are adjusted for changes in quality and amenities, '''passengers save $19.4 billion dollars per year from airline deregulation'''.  

As the above example illustrates, the free market lowers costs for the poor.  Wal-Mart is another example of this, as it provides goods at lower and lower prices for everyone.  This is very helpful to the poor.  Someone can have no money, or lose all his money, and yet if he tries then he can live nearly as well as the wealthiest man in the nation -- '''''if''''' the free market exists to drive down prices and provide equal opportunity.  Where the free market does not exist -- as in many countries of the world -- then the poor may go hungry and otherwise suffer, because prices are too high and opportunities are too limited for the poor to improve their lives.  Thus one of the best ways to help the poor is to provide them with the free market in order to lower prices and increase opportunities for them.

The above analysis was written five or more years ago.  Airline fares have fallen even more since then.  That is because the free market lowers costs for everyone.  Poor people can buy airline tickets now, when they could not before.   

The free market can have a politically beneficial effect also.  The free market is a powerful force against tyranny.  Government cannot easily control and limit free market supply and demand -- as discussed above, not even all the king's horses and all the king's men, and all the church authorities, could stop the Tyndale Bible.

Wal-Mart is another example of this, as it provides goods at lower and lower prices for everyone.  This is very helpful to the poor.  Someone can have no money, or lose all his money, and yet if he tries then he can live nearly as well as the wealthiest man in the nation -- '''''if''''' the free market is allowed to exist to drive down prices and provide equal opportunity.  Where the free market does not exist -- as in many countries of the world -- then the poor may suffer, because prices are too high and opportunities are too limited for the poor to improve their lives.  Thus one of the best ways to help the poor is to provide them with the free market in order to lower prices and increase opportunities for them.

So the next time you're flat broke without any job and facing a hopeless economic situation, remember this:  you still have the free market, the most powerful tool of all.  Put it to work for you.  The free market is a hardworking servant.

 

So the next time you're flat broke without any job and facing a hopeless economic situation, remember this:  in the United States you still have the free market on your side, the most powerful tool of all.  Put it to work for you.  The free market is a hardworking servant.

== What Supply and Demand Are '''''Not''''' ==

== What Supply and Demand Are '''''Not''''' ==