Market Observations

[Sharpienads]

I think what we're forgetting here, and jhood alluded to it, is that the most important part of capitalism IMO is the consumer. The consumer must be responsible. When people pay what I would consider ridiculous prices for something, like $400 for a stripped blemished lower, they are not being responsible. When you give money to a company that doesn't respect your beliefs, you are not being responsible. Of course it's not always avoidable. But you can't have "robber barons" and "monopolies" without consumers. The more free the market, the more responsible we as consumers have to be.

If you don't like being responsible for yourself, then by all means let the government make decisions for you in moderation.

EXAMPLES:
Can I buy the entire supply of insulin or flu vaccine and start charging 250% premium? It is supply and demand, isn't it?

Sure, but what good is that going to do you when nobody can afford it? Not to mention you're gonna have a lot of pissed off people. And then somebody is just going to make it cheaper and put you out of business and now you have a bunch of expired insulin or flu shots.

[spqrzilla]

Hound, there is an amazing amount of stuff that you "know" that just isn't so. As just one example, yes, I actually read the decision of Judge Greene in breaking up the AT&T / Bell monopoly. And in fact, AT&T wasn't "gouging" anyone. What they were doing was subsidizing infrastructure costs by charging high rates for long distance. And the reality is also that AT&T wanted to be broken up, because competitors were offering long distance services to large companies at a high discount.

Unbridled capitalism cannot lead to monopolies, because monopolies can't exist without government intervention. AT&T controlled the local telephone business because of the actions of government public utilities commissions. It was the "unbridled" competition in long distance phone service offerings to business that change the market and broke up AT&T.

... the reality is that that 47% are at or near poverty...

Utter horse manure. This is so out of this world ridiculous that I wonder what planet you actually live on.

And your Koch fascination only reinforces the silliness of your rhetoric.

[MED]

Personally, I regulate myself. If something is more then I want to pay for it, I won't buy it. During the panic, I over-paid on mags because I wanted them before the ban. I am not shooting two bricks of 22lr a month anymore because I am not willing to pay more then $25 a brick to shoot it. If people are willing to pay, then the inflated prices will hold steady until it crashes like AR components now. Something is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. It is frustrating at times, yes, but what would work better? It is a real pain to find reloading supplies, but that is because nobody wants to get caught with their pants down again. Whether the panic is justified or not, I am pretty sure that things won't get any better on the political front so I guess it is buy what you can while you can and be prepared. If you think an individual or a business is being unreasonable, use your wallet to send a message; that is what I do.

[<MADDOG>]

I always enjoy reading different opinions on these threads, and minus the name calling from the typical players; there are usually good arguments.

That being said, I'll do some reading on the economics of the illegal drug market. Perfect case of a supply and demand market with 100% government intervention, true?

[merl]

Unbridled capitalism cannot lead to monopolies, because monopolies can't exist without government intervention.

Absolutely false
I don't want to get drawn into the rest of it but couldn't let that stand.

[Hound]

Personally, I regulate myself. If something is more then I want to pay for it, I won't buy it. During the panic, I over-paid on mags because I wanted them before the ban. I am not shooting two bricks of 22lr a month anymore because I am not willing to pay more then $25 a brick to shoot it. If people are willing to pay, then the inflated prices will hold steady until it crashes like AR components now. Something is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. It is frustrating at times, yes, but what would work better? It is a real pain to find reloading supplies, but that is because nobody wants to get caught with their pants down again. Whether the panic is justified or not, I am pretty sure that things won't get any better on the political front so I guess it is buy what you can while you can and be prepared. If you think an individual or a business is being unreasonable, use your wallet to send a message; that is what I do.

This is pretty spot on to where I am coming from. Does gouging exist, absolutely but that does not mean I nessasarily have to do anything about it even if I could. We all vote for priceing in how we spend our money, this is where you and 'Sharp' are correct for most situations. If I see what I think is gouging, I may or may not say anything about it. That is free speech. But to me, a spade is a spade. This works for most things in life. There are others, where there is no choice, that are a longer discussion.

[Hound]

Hound, there is an amazing amount of stuff that you "know" that just isn't so. As just one example, yes, I actually read the decision of Judge Greene in breaking up the AT&T / Bell monopoly. And in fact, AT&T wasn't "gouging" anyone. What they were doing was subsidizing infrastructure costs by charging high rates for long distance. And the reality is also that AT&T wanted to be broken up, because competitors were offering long distance services to large companies at a high discount.

Unbridled capitalism cannot lead to monopolies, because monopolies can't exist without government intervention. AT&T controlled the local telephone business because of the actions of government public utilities commissions. It was the "unbridled" competition in long distance phone service offerings to business that change the market and broke up AT&T.

Utter horse manure. This is so out of this world ridiculous that I wonder what planet you actually live on.

And your Koch fascination only reinforces the silliness of your rhetoric.

I 'know' what your 'facts' are full of you mention it yourself. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid!!!

MaBell fought it tooth and nail. If they 'wanted' to break up they would have without being taken to court. What competators, if you read the decision you would know there were none. MaBell owned all the lines.

Next one already called out.

I have always called out both Bloomberg and the Koch's because both use their massive wealth as a hammer on the politics of this country (both left and right), which I don't agree with. I go back to one man one vote priciples, not how much politics can your money buy. That is not rhetoric, the word does not mean what you think it means [but good try on toeing the party line]

[WillysWagon]

Just picked up 2 PA Micro Red Dots for $49.95 (free shipping), I'd say that's a great deal.
Might have to get a couple more for future builds !!

Buy while the buying is good.

This is also my way of getting the thread back on track in relation to "lower" prices on AR parts and whatnot !!

[merl]

Just picked up 2 PA Micro Red Dots for $49.95 (free shipping), I'd say that's a great deal.
Might have to get a couple more for future builds !!

Buy while the buying is good.

This is also my way of getting the thread back on track in relation to "lower" prices on AR parts and whatnot !!

The buying is good right now and probably only going to get better over the next year or so. Here is to powder supplies recovering before 2016.

[Jamnanc]

Hear hear. And 22 ammo.